The soldier, the messiah and the pariah
by Vigilante24
Summary: Alexander Stronghold, a woman with a hidden past and the resident of the apartment 221 B1 in Baker Street. She meets Sherlock, a high functional sociopath, John Watson, an army doctor with a heart of gold and together they solve one case after the other. However, with each passing case, it is revealed that Alexander is much more than your everyday neighbour.
1. Chapter 1

Alexander Stronghold, a woman with a hidden past and the resident of the apartment 221 B1 in Baker Street. She meets Sherlock, a high functional sociopath, John Watson, an army doctor with a heart of gold and together they solve one case after the other.

However, with each passing case, it is revealed that Alexander is much more than your everyday neighbour…

What is she going to do when her past is revealed? Will that ruin her relationship with the infamous duo? Will it affect her relationship with the man she has started to fall in love with? Will Friendship and love surpass the flaws and mistakes of each person in the small group or will it destroy them forever?

* * *

_221 Baker Street, London, UK. _

The apartment B had been vacant for some time now until a young man decided to rent it. Mrs. Hudson, the landlady of the place was showing the apartment to its new resident. The young man had pale skin, black curly hair and stunning light blue eyes.

"And this is your apartment," she said as she opened the door and allowed the young man to explore the empty rooms. "Well, what do you think?"

"It will do but it is quite expensive" the young man said as he turned to look at her.

"Then why don't you find yourself a flatmate? There are two bedrooms as you saw, and I think it will do you some good to have company?"

"Yeah but no one will want to be flatmates with me"

"Oh, don't say that dear! I am sure you are a very good man!"

"The opposite, I am a high functional sociopath but that is not the case. I will take it and I will search for a flatmate. My things will arrive shortly"

"Oh great! So nice to have another young soul here! I know; why don't you come down for some tea and cookies?"

"Another young soul?" the man asked but before Mrs Hudson could answer, the door of the entrance opened and closed, which meant that someone had just entered the building.

They both turned their attention towards the ladder and a second later, a young woman appeared.

She wore a sleeveless Lakers basketball team lose shirt that stopped little after her waist and black running tights with a white stripe at the outside part of her leg. The tights stopped little above her ankles, not touching the black and red worn-out trainers. Her dirty blond hair was up in a ponytail, but several strands and loose hair were framing her face as they had escaped during her exercise. Her black long-sleeved and waterproof training jacket was open, and her phone was strapped around her right forearm, while a pair of white headphones were hanging around her neck.

"Lex, you came just on time," Mrs Hudson said. "This is-"

"Sherlock Holmes, nice to meet you," the man said, interrupting the landlady while extending his hand.

"Alexander Stronghold but please, call me Lex" the young woman said as she shacked his.

"Hm! Strong handshake for a woman. I presume this is from your intense training with a punching bag and years of martial arts, which enabled you to have a steady and strong grip. Also, you like having a strong handshake since most people know that a good and right handshake is a strong one. Your hand is also quite rough, who means that you have done quite the labour job and can that can also be because of the constant use of a gun. Your eyes are slightly dull, which I presume must be from things you have seen; more specifically, it has to do with the loss of loved ones. They also going up and down, a cute attempt for you to try and read me but you can't. Don't worry most people can't. Also, you just came from running but the miles you ran are less than what you usually run since you have barely sweat and your pulse is normal; and all because of a phone call that made you return home earlier. Now, to end this, your job… by your posture, it is obvious that your place is quite high in rank, but you tend to lower your head, which means that you take orders from someone else. However, what kind of job would need its worker to be in great shape? Police definitely but you are not one since it's too early for you to have finished your shift. Bodyguard, you couldn't be since you are not muscular enough. Now, if we consider all this, it leaves us to perhaps a spy. "

"Sherlock!" Mrs. Hudson scolded the man. "Don't worry dear; he did the same to me"

"No, it's okay. It is quite amazing" Lex said as he finally let go of her hand and Sherlock looked at her in astonishment; since no one had ever praised him for his ability,

Instead, they would insult him and call him names but no, she enjoyed it. He quickly started to study her more, to find something that would indicate that she was lying but he found nothing.

"So, I presume I was 100% correct" he finally said which sounded more like a statement rather a question.

"Almost," Alex said, and his face dropped into a scowl. "You see Mister Holmes; you were wrong about 3 things" she started as she took a step closer and raised her head since he was a head taller than her. "First ***raises one finger*** I didn't come home earlier because of a phone call, no; I simply didn't want to get wet" on cue lightning was heard and the sound of drops falling. "Second, ***another finger up*** I don't train because of my job. I train because I like to be kept fit and also help to deal with the stress. You should try it sometime by the way. Lastly***lifts a third finger*** I am not a spy which you assumed. I am a translator in different businesses and companies while I also help '_friends'_ with public relations in different business matters, hence the strong handshake"

"There is always something…. Always something…. Something…" Sherlock muttered to himself as he closed his eyes and placed his hands in front of his mouth as if though he was praying; clueless that one of those things Alex had said was a lie.

"Sherlock, I think it's about time for that tea and my homemade cookies?" Mrs Hudson said, trying to break the tension between the two of them.

"Yeah, that would be great actually. I will be down in a minute"

"Okay" the landlord said as she went down the stairs to prepare some tea.

"Anything else you want to add Sherly?" Alex asked, a smirk playing on her face as she folded her hands in front of her chest.

"Yeah… Alex, you haven't changed at all" Sherlock said, a faint and barely visible smile on his face.

"Nor have you" the woman said and smiled back.


	2. Chapter 2

It has been barely a week since Sherlock Holmes made himself comfortable in the new apartment. He had also asked around for a flatmate and to his luck, an acquaintance of his found him one.

Now, the tall sociopath was in the apartment and was showing around a quite shorter man with dirty blond- brown hair and kind eyes. The man was dressed simply unlike the taller one and was leaning on a black cane while listening to his new flat mate.

Finally, after Sherlock stopped talking and Watson was free to speak; the bottom door opened and closed with quite the noise and a groan echoed in the 3-story house.

"Perfect" the sociopath said as he looked at the clock, the tip of his cupid shaped lips rising slightly. "Time to meet the other resident"

"Other resident?" the short man questioned/repeated confused as he turned his head to the open door as the sound of someone climbing the steps reached his ear.

Lex stopped on her steps as she noticed the new face inside Sherlock's apartment and instead of going up to her own, she started to walk towards them.

This time she wore black cargo pants and a long-sleeved lime-olive green shirt with her signature black jacket and black army boots. Her hair was in a low ponytail that passed right above her right shoulder and stopped at chest size with a few strands hanging around her face.

"Lex! This is John Watson, my new flatmate. John, this is Alexander Stronghold; the resident of 221 B1 or in other words, the apartment above us"

"Pleasure," John said as they shook hands.

"I thought I smelled some fresh blood" the woman joked and caught the older man off guard.

"Excuse me?"

"Come on Lex; don't scare him away from now. The poor soul hasn't even managed to bring his stuff here"

"Forgive me. I couldn't help it" she said and gave a smile before dropping the handshake. Afghanistan or Iraq?" she asked which shocked and slightly angered John.

"Oh no no no! What was this time? The cane or something from my clothes? No, must be something on my face, right?" he said with a slightly raised voice, annoyance crystal cleared.

Lex looked at Sherlock with an amused look which Sherlock replied with the same before she decides to clear things for him.

"John wasn't it?" she asked as the man finally calmed down. "Relax, I am not a mastermind or annoying like the man behind you" she started which earned a scowl by the said man but a small smile from Watson. "I asked because my father was in the army. I have been around soldiers long enough to recognize one.

"Oh, I see… Sorry about that then… what division was your father?" John asked, now completely calmed and slightly embarrassed.

"2nd division sir"

"Oh, I see. I was in the 5th and to answer your question, Afghanistan… Again, sorry for the temper" the man said as he looked down and played with his cane from embarrassment.

"No worries. It's completely understandable… oh and by the way, please calls me Lex"

"Lex it is then"

"Lex!" Mrs Hudson called the young woman's name as she came out of the kitchen after her small attempt to clean a little bit the mess the tall man had caused. "Dear, this is the other resident I wanted to tell you about. She stays on the apartment above this one and is also the one with the spare second bedroom"

"Yes. So in case you need a break from the guy behind you, feel free to knock on my door. It will be good to have some company once in a while"

"Oh don't complain Lex, you spend more time here than in your apartment. You are far from lonely and if you want a company you can adopt a pet or start dating that also could work"

Lex showed her tongue at the Sherlock which amused John a lot, glad that there was a more… normal soul here and someone so enjoyable as well. He couldn't still say about Sherlock, but he could say that the lady in front of him would be an excellent company and friend.

While those three were talking, Mrs Hudson had managed to grab herself the newspaper and look at the first page where 3 major suicides that happened in the past weeks were. "Sherlock, what will you do about those three suicides?" she asked as she kept reading but the said man was walking closer to his window and looked below.

"4 suicides"

"4?" she asked, no one having noticed the police car that had stopped outside of the building a few seconds ago.

"4" Lex confirmed as the bottom door was opened and closed before fast and heavy footsteps could be heard.

John and the landlady looked confused as their attention went to the door as a moment later, a man entered.

He had brown military cut hair that majority of it had turned grey due to stress and old age. His eyes were a dark brown, almost looking back and faint wrinkles could be observed at the corner of his eyes. He was dressed in a simple pair of pants, a white shirt and a dark brown long-tailed coat.

"There is something different this time though," Sherlock said as everyone turned to look at the newcomer. "Where?"

"Brixton, Lauriston Gardens" the man said.

"What's new about this one? You wouldn't have come to get me if there wasn't something different"

"You know how they never leave notes?

"Yeah"

"This one did"

_How peculiar, _Lex thought as she stayed quiet and took in everything from the small conversation. She was aware of the suicides, heck it was all over the news and she wanted them to stop.

She had a small talk with Sherlock a few days prior, both agreeing to the part that they were not suicides but murders. Of course, they were the only ones, for now; something was telling her that soon the scales would change.

"Interesting" Sherlock muttered to himself, but she saw right through his little act, betting money that the Sociopath had seen it coming.

"Will you come?"

"Who is on forensics?"

"Anderson"

"He doesn't work well with me" Sherlock said as he turned his attention away from the man.

"Well, he won't be your assistant"

"I need an assistant"

Lex held herself from clearing her throat, reminding Sherlock that she could fit the position pretty well since those the two of them worked perfectly fine. Plus, she was the only one who could bare up with him, well; her and now John.

"Will you come?"

"Not in a police car. I will be right behind"

"Thank you"

Mrs Hudson and John looked confused as the detective started to climb down the stairs while Lex smirked.

"Incoming in 3…2…1"

As she finished counting, Sherlock gave a quite devilish smirk and jumped high on the air while clapping his hands once. "Brilliant. Yes!" he had shouted, and his face showed more joy than anyone had him capable of showing.

John looked shocked and his eyes went to Lex, who was leaning against the wall, and the now happy Sherlock.

"4 serial suicides and now, a note. Oh, it's Christmas! Mrs Hudson, I will be late; might need some food" he said as he grabbed his scarf and coat while heading towards the kitchen.

"I am your landlady, dear, not your housekeeper"

"Something cold will do. John, have a cup of tea. Make yourself home and get to know Lex better" he said from the kitchen as he wore his black coat and fixed his scarf. With no other words, he had left, and Lex left out a sigh while shaking her head.

"A cup of tea would be lovely. Thank you" John said as he grabbed the newspaper and made himself comfortable in the armchair.

"Just this once dear, I am not your housekeeper. Would you like a cup as well Lex?" the woman said, and Lex held the urge to laugh.

"Yes please" This was something the old lady would say all the time but yet always offered to make cookies and tea. It was her motherly nature that Lex loved. It was rare to find a landlady or landlord with such a kind character. She had crossed paths with plenty of rude, drunk or money lovers that caused her only trouble. Not this woman though, this woman was an angel. "Hmmm" Lex exclaimed as she heard the sound of footsteps.

"What is it, Lex?" John asked, and the woman pointed with her thumb at the door, only for a second later to be opened by Sherlock who stood there like a statue.

"You are a doctor," he said and drew John's full attention. "You are an army doctor"

"Yes," John confirmed his question which was more of a fact as he stood up.

"Any good?"

"Very good"

"Seen a lot of injuries then. Violent deaths"

_No shit Sherlock. The man was in Afghanistan after all. Just ask him what you truly want from him, _Lex thought as she kicked herself off the wall and made her way towards the two men.

This could be the perfect chance.

"Well yes"

"Bit of trouble too?" the taller of the two men asked as he was now standing in front of the army doctor.

"Of course, Yes. Enough for a lifetime, far too much"

"Want to see some more?"

"Oh God, yes"

Lex mentally laughed at how the dramatic mood changed and how the wounded, emotionally scarred man wanted to see more. She expected it though, the adrenalin of the battle.

She knew this feeling too well.

As the two men turned and were about to walk towards the door, Lex sidestepped and blocked their path.

"I am coming with you" she said as she folded her hands in front of her chest.

"No"

"You promised Sherlock, or do I need to remind you that I am the only one who can work with you so far and believed at your theory that those suicides are murders?"

"What?" John asked but he was ignored as the duo glared at each other in a challenging way, none of them bout to step down any time soon.

"That doesn't mean anything. I have John with me, and I am sure we can work perfectly fine"

"One more brain in the group won't kill you"

"No"

"Fine then. I will stand _right here_ and not move until you say yes. You can try and move me but we both know it won't end up good ***John looked confused between the two***. Knowing how excited you are for this case, you won't be able to sit down and wait for me to back down, as you also know how stubborn I can be. Plus, the clock is ticking, and the Police won't let the body lying there for much longer now, will they"

A smirk was on her lips as Sherlock scowled. This woman knew how to press his buttons in a way he didn't like it. His brain ran in an amazing speed as he tried to read the woman, find a way to escape but he came with none.

She was good, too good sometimes.

"Very well"

The smirk stayed as she stepped aside and allowed the taller man to walk down the stairs while she followed right behind her, leaving John back.

"John, are you coming?"

Her words snapped him from his little shock and he quickly followed the duo, not wanting to be left behind.


	3. Chapter 3

"Sorry, Mrs Hudson. I will skip the tea. Off out" John said, and Lex felt adrenalin and excitement rushing through her veins.

She didn't want to use Sherlock that way and push those certain buttons but there was no way she would be left behind. The police had finally approached him again and he had also asked John's help.

It felt strange, being with the two men and now about to head to a crime scene. Yet, it somehow felt right.

"Both of you… No, all three of you?" the woman of their landlady was heard, and Sherlock came to a halt before changing his direction and heading towards her.

"Impossible suicides? 4 of them? No point sitting at home when there is finally something fun going on!" the man said and kissed her cheek.

"Look at you, all happy. It Is not descent"

"Who cares about descent? The game Mrs Hudson. Is on!" Holmes said as he exited the building first, followed by John and last Lex.

"I will watch over them, Mrs Hudson. Do not worry" she said as she joined the two men as a Taxi was stopped by the sociopath.

Sherlock sat in first, John was about to follow when he held the door open and like the gentleman he was, offered his seat to Lex. She smiled at him as she took her place between the two men.

She gave the address to the driver and they sat in silence for the first minute. It wasn't fully comfortable, and they were a little packed but none of them cared as all they wanted was to arrive at their destination and let the fun begin.

Sherlock opened his phone and started to search something, Lex catching a small glimpse of it.

_Weather podcast?_ she questioned in her mind even though she knew that there was a reason he was on that specific page; a reason that had to do with the case and wondered what it was.

Of course, she would find out soon enough. They were getting closer to the crime scene. Her smile dropped from her face as the image of a certain someone flashed into her mind. She held a groan, knowing very well that trouble would come soon with such decision.

"Ok, you have got questions" Sherlock said out of the blue and snapped her back to the reality.

"Yeah, where are we going?" John asked.

"Crime scene. Next?"

"Who are you? What do you do?"

"What do you think?"

"I'd say… private detective" John said, and Lex gave a faint scoffed, earning the attention of the two men.

"Oh, please ignore me and continue with this little…discussion?"

"But?"

"But the police don't go to private detectives"

"I am a consulting detective; only one in the world. I invented the job"

"Nah, I am sure there are few others like him. He simply invented the title which he holds with lots of pride if I may add" Lex said and ignored the look Sherlock gave her.

"What does that mean?" John asked as he looked at the duo for answers.

"It means that when the police are out of their depth, which is always-"

"Sherlock be nice. It is not always"

"Fine, 99% of the time ***Lex leaves out a sigh and shakes her head in defeat*** they consult me"

"The police don't consult amateurs"

"What makes you think he is one?" the woman said, more offended than the actual man.

"When I met you for the first time yesterday, I said Afghanistan or Iraq. You looked surprised"

"Yes, how did you know? I accept Lex's answer since fellow soldiers can recognize each other. However, you are not one so there is no way you could even come closer to the proper question"

"I didn't know, I saw. The haircut, the way you hold yourself says military. But your conversation…said trained at Bart's. So, army doctor; obvious. Your face is tanned but no tan above the wrist. You have been abroad, but not sunbathing. Your limp is pretty bad when you walk, but you do not ask for a chair when you stand as you have forgotten about it. So, it's at least partly Psychosomatic", Sherlock explained and looked at Lex for a few seconds, who gave a barely faint nod with her head; signalling that the last part related to the limb was something she had also concluded but had stayed quiet. "That says the original circumstances of the injury were traumatic; wounded in action, then. Wounded in action, suntan, Afghanistan or Iraq"

"You said I had a therapist"

"You have got a psychosomatic limp; of course you have a therapist," Lex said before the man could. "Even if you didn't have the limb as Sherlock suggested; you came home from the battlefield not too long. I know personally the need of seeing a doctor when you come back, at least once. Unless the laws of the army have changed"

"…No… they haven't"

She smirked in victory and turned to look at Sherlock with pride, proving him at the spot that she was useful in this team. The man rolled his eyes at her and looked out of the window, not in the mood to get into any conversation or any starring contest with the woman next to him.

"Then, there is your brother. Your phone" he added after a minute of silence and turned to look at the shorter man. "It's expensive, email enabled, Mp3 player. You are looking for a flatshare. You couldn't buy this, so it is a gift. Scratches, not one, many, over time; it has been in the same pocket as keys and coins. It's been in the same pocket as keys and coins. The man sitting next to me wouldn't treat his one luxury item like this, so it's had a previous owner. Next bit's easy. You know it already"

"The engraving" Watson said.

"Harry Watson. A family member who's given you his old phone. Not your father, this is a young man's gadget. Could be a cousin, but you're a war hero who can't find a place to live. Unlikely you've got an extended family, certainly not one you're close to, so brother it is. Now, Clara. Who's Clara? Three kisses say it's a romantic attachment. The expense of the phone says wife, not a girlfriend. She must have given it to him recently, this model's only six months old. Marriage in trouble then – six months on he's just given it away. If she'd left him, he would have kept it. People do. Sentiment. But no, he wanted to get rid of it. He left her. He gave the phone to you: that says he wants you to stay in touch. You're looking for cheap accommodation, but you're not going to your brother for help. That says you've got problems with him. Maybe you liked his wife; maybe you don't like his drinking"

"How can you possibly know about drinking?"

"Shot in the dark. Good one, though. Power connection: tiny little scuff marks around the edge of it. Every night he goes to plug it in to charge but his hands are shaking. You never see those marks on a sober man's phone. Never see a drunk's without them. There you go, you see, you were right"

"I was right? Right about what?"

"The police don't consult amateurs"

"That... was amazing"

Lex smiled and looked at the surprised men. If she didn't like John before, she did now. She had a good feeling about this man, and it kept being proved correct as of the day passed.

"Do you think so?

"Of course it was. It was extraordinary; it was quite extraordinary"

"That's not what people normally say"

"What do people normally say"?"

"Piss off!"

"Along with a variety of colourful names. Simple, people shun what they do not understand" Lex said right after, hands folded in front of her chest and a scowl on her face.

The two men looked at her but focused on something else as the cub came to a stop. John paid and the three got out and started to walk towards the police tape strung across the road.

"Did I get anything wrong?" Sherlock asked.

"Harry and I don't get on, never have. Clara and Harry split up three months ago and they're getting a divorce, and Harry is a drinker"

"Spot on, then. I didn't expect to be right about everything"

"And Harry's short for Harriet"

Those words stopped Sherlock right on his tracks. His proud smile was long gone, and Lex was very amused by the whole scene. She looked at him, ready to say something sarcastic but the Sociopath ignored her and focused on John.

"Harry's your sister"

"Look, what exactly am I supposed to be doing here?"

"Sister!"

"No, seriously, what am I doing here?"

Lex places a hand on John's shoulder. "Don't. This is as I call the aftermath mood, usually happens when he misses something. I will tell you what you are doing here. The police don't like Sherlock. Especially some people and refuse to work with him on the case. He needs help and you, as an Army Doctor, are far more experienced and a great help. Plus, you tolerate him, and I believe we are the only people in the world who can work with him"

"That makes sense… Okay, I understand but I am still not certain… about all this"

"There's always something" they heard sherlock mutter as he walked towards them.

"You will be. In time"

She gave him a genuine smile and a friendly pat on the back before joining their genius friend. Her eyes landed on the man on the other side of the tapes, someone she wished long gone.

_Sergeant Donovan_

"Hello, freak" she said, and Lex found her hand itching for the pocketknife in her back pocket.

She hadn't joined Sherlock before, but she had been unlucky enough to be present during some 'meetings' between Sherlock and the Police. She hated how they treated him but knew she was currently powerless to do something.

"I'm here to see Detective Inspector Lestrade"

"Why?"

"I was invited"

"Why?"

"Because you are ending up with dead ends and someone needs to help to stop all of this" Lex said as she took a step and stood tall next to Sherlock.

"And who are you?"

"Someone who can and will do your job 10 times better"

Sherlock smirked in amusement but decided to step in. The faster this conversation would end, the faster he would be with the body. "I think he wants me to take a look." He said.

"Well, you know what I think, don't you?" Donovan said and eyed Lex carefully.

Sherlock lifted the tape and ducked underneath it. Lex doing the same while John had stayed back and felt unsure of what to do next.

"Always, Sally**. *He breathes in through his nose*** I even know you didn't make it home last night"

"I don't ... ***She looks at John* **who's this?"

"Colleague of mine, Doctor Watson. Doctor Watson, Sergeant Sally Donovan. _Old friend_"

"A colleague? How do you get a colleague?! And who is she?!"

"Doctor's assistant" Lex said proudly.

"What, did he follow you two home?"

"Would it be better if I just waited and ... "John started to say unsure, but Sherlock cut him off.

"No," he said and lifted the tape, motioning for John to follow them which he did. At the same time, Donovan lifted the radio at her mouth.

"Freak's here. Bringing him in"

Lex took a deep breath to control her anger and allowed the sour woman to lead them words the house.

"Don't. It is not worth it to fall on the pathetic level of someone with such low intelligence" Sherlock told her as he looked around the area. Lex gave a faint nod and smiled slightly. As they reached the pavement, a man wearing a coverall over his clothes came out of the house. "Ah, Anderson. Here we are again" Sherlock said as the man looked at him with distaste.

"It's a crime scene. I don't want it contaminated. Are we clear on that?"

"Quite clear. ***taking in another deep breath through his nose* **And is your wife away for long?"

Lex's eyes widened and a wicked smirk appeared on her lips as she connected the dots. She looked at Anderson who avoided eye contact with her and instead focused on Sherlock.

"Oh, don't pretend you worked that out. Somebody told you that"

"Your deodorant told me that"

"My deodorant?"

"It's for men"

"Well, of course, it's for men! I'm wearing it!"

Lex faked cough and earned a glare from the man but she simply gave an innocent face, the smirk never leaving her lips.

"So's Sergeant Donovan"

Anderson looked round in shock at Donovan as Sherlock sniffed pointedly.

"Ooh, and I think it just vaporized. May I go in?"

"Now look whatever you're trying to imply ..."

"I'm not implying anything ***heads past Donovan towards the front door*** I'm sure Sally came around for a nice little chat, and just happened to stay over. And I assume she scrubbed your floors, going by the state of her knees"

Anderson and Donovan stare at him in horror while He smiled smugly. He then turned and went into the house. John walked past Sally, briefly but pointedly looking down to her knees, then followed Sherlock inside.

"I wonder if Lestrade knows that. Especially, with the whole… not dating colleagues rule" Lex started as she looked at the two of them. "Of course, we won't say anything… _yet_"

She smirked in triumph and walked inside the house, following quickly the two men as she let the secret couple fully shocked and slightly horrified.


	4. Chapter 4

Inside the house, our heroes walked in just as when Lestrade was putting on a coverall. Sherlock spotted and pointed to a pile of similar items.

"You two need to wear one of these" Sherlock said as he turned to look at Lex and John.

"Who's this?" the detective asked.

"They are with me.

"But who are they?"

"I said they are with me"

As the two men argued, Lex and John had already taken off their jacket and picked up a coverall. John looked at Sherlock who had picked up a pair of latex gloves.

"Aren't you going to put one on?"

Sherlock just looked at him sternly. John shook his head as if to say, _'Silly me. What was I thinking?!' _

"So, where are we?" The sociopath asked the detective.

"Upstairs," he said as he picked up another pair of latex gloves.

* * *

Lestrade led our heroes up a circular staircase. He, Lex and John was wearing coveralls together with white cotton coverings over their shoes, and latex gloves. Sherlock was putting on his latex gloves as they went up the stairs.

"I can give you two minutes"

"May need longer" Sherlock told him.

"Her name's Jennifer Wilson according to her credit cards. We're running them now for contact details. Hasn't been here long. Some kids found her"

He led them into a room two stories above the ground floor. The room is empty of furniture except for a rocking horse in the far corner. Emergency portable lighting had been set up, presumably by the police.

Scaffolding poles held up part of the ceiling near where a couple of large holes had been knocked through one of the walls. A woman's body was lying face down on the bare floorboards in the middle of the room.

She was wearing a bright pink overcoat and high-heeled pink shoes. Her hands were flat on the floor either side of her head. Sherlock walked a few steps into the room and then stopped, holding one hand out in front of himself as he focused on the corpse.

Behind him, John and Lex looked at the woman's body and John's face filled with pain and sadness while the woman next to him had a more neutral face as if she had seen a dead body before.

The 4 of them stood there silently for several long seconds, then Sherlock looked across to Lestrade.

"Shut up"

"I didn't say anything"

"You were thinking. It's annoying"

Lestrade and John exchanged a surprised look and then looked at Lex who was looking at Sherlock with fascination. The said man stepped slowly forward until he reached the side of the corpse.

His attention was immediately drawn to the fact that scratched into the floorboards near the woman's left hand is the word "_Rache_". His eyes flicked to her fingernails where the index and middle nails were broken and ragged at the ends, the pink nail polish chipped in stark comparison to her other nails which were still immaculate.

The woman's index finger rests at the bottom of the 'e' as if she was still trying to carve into the floor when she died. Sherlock made an instant deduction:

_Lefthanded_

He kept observing different small details. Is mind racing at amazing speed as he processed its clue and made different deductions. When he was done, he smiled slightly in satisfaction.

"Got anything?" Lestrade asked him.

"Not much"

Sherlock stood up, took off the gloves and then got his mobile phone from his pocket and begins typing on it.

"She's German. 'Rache': it's German for 'revenge.' She could be trying to tell us something..." Anderson from where he was leaning casually against the doorway said but was ignored as our sociopath walked quickly towards the door and began to close it in Anderson's face.

"Yes, thank you for your input," he said sarcastically. And then slammed the door shut, he turned and walked back into the room. On his phone, he has called up a menu for _UK Weather. _

"So she's German?"

"No," Lex and Sherlock said. All men looked at her, but she simply motioned for Sherlock to continue.

"She's from out of town, though. Intended to stay in London for one night before returning home to Cardiff" he said and pocketed his phone. "So far, so obvious"

"Sorry … obvious?" John asked confused. He looked at Lex who shrugged her shoulders but had a small suspicion.

"What about the message, though?" Lestrade asked.

"Doctor Watson, what do you think?"

"Of the message?"

"Of the body. You're a medical man"

"Wait, no, we have a whole team right outside" The detective argued.

"They won't work with me"

"I'm breaking every rule letting you in here"

"Yes ... because you need me"

Lestrade stared at him for a moment, then lowered his eyes helplessly. "Yes, I do. God help me"

"Doctor Watson"

"Hm?" he exclaimed.

He then looked up from the body to Sherlock and then turned his head towards Lestrade, silently seeking his permission.

"Oh, do as he says. Help yourself" he said as he turned and opened the door before going outside. "Anderson, keep everyone out for a couple of minutes"

Sherlock, Lex and John walked over to the body. Sherlock squatted down on one side of it and John painfully lowered himself to one knee on the other side, leaning heavily on his cane to support himself.

Lex looked at John carefully and then at his cane He then looked at Sherlock for a moment before crouching next to John.

"Well?" Sherlock asked him.

"What am I doing here?"

"Helping me make a point"

"I'm supposed to be helping you pay the rent"

"Yeah, well, this is more fun. Lex tells him"

"Fun? A woman is lying dead" John argued and looked at the only woman in the group.

"Technically, you wanted to get back on the whole thrill of actions and deep down you like it. Besides, let's make a deal. Help Sherlock solve this and after it, you do not have to come to any other case"

Sherlock opened his mouth to say something, but she silenced him with a look.

"Fine"

Lestrade came back into the room and stood just inside the doorway as John dragged his other leg down into a kneeling position and then leaned forward to look more closely at the woman's body.

He put his head close to hers and sniffed, then straightened a little before lifting her right hand and looking at the skin. He kneeled up and looked across to Sherlock.

"Yeah ... Asphyxiation, probably. Passed out, choked on her vomit. Can't smell any alcohol on her. It could have been a seizure-"

"Or drugs. Preferably overdose or a way too powerful drug to cause such symptoms" Lex pointed out, interrupting John.

"You know what it was. You've read the papers"

"What, she's one of the suicides? The fourth ...?"

"Sherlock – two minutes, I said. I need anything you've got" Lestrade shouted from the door.

Sherlock stood up and Lex helped John who struggled to get to his feet.

"Victim is in her late thirties. Professional person, going by her clothes; I'm guessing something in the media, going by the frankly alarming shade of pink. Travelled from Cardiff today, intending to stay in London for one night. It's obvious from the size of her suitcase"

"Suitcase?" Lestrade repeated as John looked around the room but saw no suitcase.

"Suitcase, yes. She's been married at least ten years, but not happily. She's had a string of lovers but none of them knew she was married."

"Oh, for God's sake, if you're just making this up- "

"Her wedding rings. Ten years old at least. The rest of her jewellery has been regularly cleaned, but not her wedding ring. State of her marriage right there. The inside of the ring is shinier than the outside – that means it's regularly removed. The only polishing it gets is when she works it off her finger. It's not for work; look at her nails. She doesn't work with her hands, so what or rather who does she remove her rings for? Not one lover; she'd never sustained the fiction of being single over that amount of time, so more likely a string of them. Simple"

"That's brilliant" John commented, and Lex smiled in pride.

"It's obvious, isn't it?

"It's not obvious to me"

"Lex?"

"Well…some parts but I am certain I am missing something because none of us is you, Sherlock"

"Of course you are not…Dear God, what is it like in your funny little brains? It must be so boring" the sociopath said for the two men and then turned back to the body. "Her coat: it's slightly damp. She's been in heavy rain in the last few hours. No rain anywhere in London at that time. Under her coat collar is damp, too. She's turned it up against the wind. She's got an umbrella in her left-hand pocket but it's dry and unused: not just wind, strong wind – too strong to use her umbrella. We know from her suitcase that she was intending to stay overnight, so she must have come to a decent distance, but she can't have travelled more than two or three hours because her coat still hasn't dried. So, where has there been heavy rain and strong wind within the radius of that travel time?"

He grabbed his phone from his pocket and showed to the other two the webpage he was looking at earlier, displaying today's weather for the southern part of Britain.

"Cardiff" Lex said, and Sherlock gave a nod.

"That's fantastic!" John commented once again.

"Do you know you do that out loud?" Sherlock asked and spoke in a low voice

"Sorry. I'll shut up"

"No, it's ... fine"

Lex smiled at the two once again.

"Why do you keep saying suitcase?" Lestrade asked

"Yes, where is it? She must have had a phone or an organizer. Find out who Rachel is"

"She was writing 'Rachel'?"

"No, she was leaving an angry note in German. Of course, she was writing Rachel; no other word it can be. Question is: why did she wait until she was dying to write it?"

"How do you know she had a suitcase?"

Sherlock pointed down to the body, where her tights had small black splotches on the lower part of her right leg. "Back of the right leg: tiny splash marks on the heel and calf, not present on the left. She was dragging a wheeled suitcase behind her with her right hand. Don't get that splash pattern any other way. Smallish case, going by the spread. A case that size, a woman this clothes-conscious: could only be an overnight bag, so we know she was staying one night"

"But where is this suitcase now then?" Lex asked as she frowned her eyebrows and looked at the detective.

"There wasn't a case"

"Say that again" Sherlock ordered.

"There wasn't a case. There was never any suitcase"

Immediately Sherlock straightened up and headed for the door, calling out to all the police officers in the house as he began to hurry down the stairs.

"Suitcase! Did anyone find a suitcase? Was there a suitcase in this house?"

Lestrade, Lex and John followed him out and stopped on the landing as the detective called down the stairs.

"Sherlock, there was no case!"

Sherlock slowed down but kept making his way down the stairs.

"But they take the poison themselves; they chew, swallow the pills themselves. There are clear signs. Even you lot couldn't miss them."

"Right, yeah, thanks. And ...?"

"It's murder, all of them. I don't know how, but they're not suicides, they're killings – serial killings… We've got ourselves a serial killer. I love those. There's always something to look forward to"

"Why are you saying that?"

"Her case! Come on, where is her case? Did she eat it? Someone else was here, and they took her case. ***More quietly, as if talking to himself*** So the killer must have driven her here; forgot the case was in the car"

"She could have checked into a hotel, left her case there" John speculated.

"No, she never got to the hotel. Look at her hair. She colour-coordinates her lipstick and her shoes. She'd never have left any hotel with her hair still looking ... ***He stops talking as he makes a realization*** Oh. ***His eyes widen and his face lights up*** Oh!"

"Sherlock?" John and Lex called his name.

"What is it, what?" Lestrade asked over the railing.

"Serial killers are always hard. You have to wait for them to make a mistake"

"We can't just wait!"

"Oh, we're done waiting!" ***With that, he started to hurry down the stairs again*** Look at her, really look! Houston, we have a mistake. Get on to Cardiff: find out who Jennifer Wilson's family and friends were. Find Rachel!"

He reached the bottom of the stairs and disappears from view.

"Of course, yeah – but what mistake?!"

Sherlock came back into view and ran up a couple of stairs so that he can be seen before he stopped and yelled up to Lestrade.

"PINK! "

He then hurried off again. Lestrade, baffled, turned and went back into the room while Anderson and his team, who had been waiting on the next landing down, hurry up the stairs and follow him into the room.

At the same time, Lex had jumped above the railing and rushed to search Sherlock, avoiding policemen on the way. He managed to catch him just I time as he got into a taxi and hurried right in after him.

"You are not getting rid of me so easily," she said at the slightly shocked Sherlock.

"Very well. Let us continue"


	5. Chapter 5

Lex and Sherlock had ended up back into the apartment. The genius had a lead, but Lex refused to listen until John was with them as well. In the end, he had given in and texted him while she scolded him for leaving him behind.

"Technically, you did the same thing. You rushed to me and simply too prideful to admit that you forgot about John as well"

"I did not forget about him… just…"

Sherlock looked at her from where he was laying on the couch and Lex rose her hands on the air in defeat before sitting on the arm of his armchair. Not long after, there was a knock at the door.

A few seconds later, John came through the door, then stopped, looked at Lex who focused on the cup of tea in her arms and then stared as Sherlock repeatedly clenched and unclenched his left fist.

"What are you doing?"

"Nicotine patch. Helps him think" Lex said and on cue, Sherlock lifted his right hand to show that he had three-round nicotine patches stuck to his arm and it was these which he was pressing against his skin to release the substances more quickly.

"Impossible to sustain a smoking habit in London these days. Bad news for brain work"

"It's good news for breathing" John said as he walked further into the room, drawing the attention of Lex.

"Oh, breathing. Breathing's boring"

"Is that three patches?"

"It's a three-patch problem."

"Well? ***sherlock doesn't respond*** You asked me to come. I'm assuming it's important"

Sherlock still didn't respond instantly, but after a couple of seconds, his eyes snapped open. He didn't bother turning his head to look at John. "Oh, yeah, of course. Can I borrow your phone? "

"My phone?"

"Don't want to use mine. Always a chance that the number will be recognized. It's on the website.

"Lex has a phone"

"I do not give my phone to anyone. Sorry, John. It is fully private and only accessible to me" Lex explained.

"Mrs Hudson's?"

"Yeah, she's downstairs. I tried shouting but she didn't hear"

"I was the other side of London"

"There was no hurry"

John glared at him as he gazed serenely at the ceiling before closing his eyes again. Eventually, John dug his phone out of his jacket pocket and held it towards him. "Here" Without opening his eyes, Sherlock held out his right hand with the palm up. John glowered at him for a moment, then stepped forward and slapped the phone into his hand. Sherlock slowly lifted his arm and puts his hands together again, this time with the phone in between his palms. John turned and walks a few paces away before turning around again. "So what's this about – the case?"

"Her case" Lex replied to his question.

"Her case?"

"Her suitcase, yes, obviously. The murderer took her suitcase. First big mistake"

"Okay, he took her case. So?"

"It's no use, there's no other way. We'll have to risk it" Sherlock said quietly to himself. Then he raised his voice a little, imperiously held the phone out towards John, still not looking at him. "On my desk, there's a number. I want you to send a text"

"You brought me here ... to send a text"

"Text, yes. The number on my desk" He continued to hold the phone out while John glowers at him, possibly wondering if he could get away with justifiable homicide. Lex was quiet as she was observing everything. She knew she could not say much since Sherlock was quite oblivious to emotions; according to her experience. Eventually, John stomped across the room and snatched the phone from his hand. Sherlock refolded his hands under his chin and closed his eyes but instead of going to the table, John walked over to the window and looked out into the street below. He opened his eyes and tilts his head slightly towards him. "What's wrong?"

"Just met a friend of yours"

Sherlock and Lex frowned in confusion. "A friend?"

"An enemy"

Both of them immediately relaxed.

"Which one?" Lex asked amused.

"Your arch-enemy, according to him. Do people have archenemies?"

"Did he offer you money to spy on me?"

"Yes"

"Did you take it?"

"No"

"Pity. We could have split the fee. Think it through next time"

"Has he approached you Lex?"

"Me? No… not yet I suppose. Makes sense, I don't live with Sherlock in the same flat and I just started working with him" she explained

"If he does, remember to say yes and then split the money"

"Of course I will say yes, Sherlock. Who says no to free money?"

"See John. She is a smart woman, perhaps smarter than you"

"Do you plan to insult me on my face every minute?"

"It's just who he is John. He insults everyone" Lex said.

"Who is he, anyway?"

"The most dangerous man you've ever met, and not my problem right now…On my desk, the number"

John gave him a dark look, but Sherlock had already looked away again, so John walked over to the desk. Both men were oblivious to the small change in Lex's face. The cup on her hands was held a little too tight than before but it was soon brought to her lips as she took a few sips and looked at John.

He picked up a piece of paper taken from a luggage label and looked at the name on the paper. "Jennifer Wilson. That was ... Hang on. Wasn't that the dead woman?"

"Yes. That's not important. Just enter the number" Shaking his head, he got his phone out and started to type the number onto it. "Are you doing it?"

"Yes"

"Have you done it?"

"Ye... hang on!"

Lex contained a laughed and didn't hide her amusement.

"These words exactly: "What happened at Lauriston Gardens? I must have blacked out…Twenty-two Northumberland Street. Please come."

"You blacked out?" he asked him confused.

"What? No. No!" Sherlock flipped his legs around and stood up, taking the shortest route towards the kitchen – which involved walking over the coffee table beside the sofa rather than around it. "Type and send it. Quickly" Going into the kitchen, he picked up a small pink suitcase from a chair and brought it back into the living room. Walking over to the dining table, he lifted one of the dining chairs and flipped it around, setting it down in front of one of the two armchairs near the fireplace. He put the suitcase onto the dining chair and sat down in the armchair while John was still typing. "Have you sent it?"

"What's the address?"

"Twenty-two Northumberland Street" Lex said for Sherlock who was in a hurry.

John finished the message, then looked around as Sherlock unzipped the case and flipped it open the lid, revealing the contents. There were a few items of clothing and underwear – all in varying shades of pink – a washbag, and a paperback novel by Paul Bunch entitled 'Come to Bed Eyes.'

As John turned towards the case he staggers slightly in shock when he realized what he was looking at. "That's ... that's the pink lady's case. That's Jennifer Wilson's case"

"Yes, obviously…Oh, perhaps I should mention…I didn't kill her"

"I never said you did"

"Why not? Given the text I just had you send and the fact that I have her case, it's a perfectly logical assumption"

"Do people usually assume you're the murderer?"

"Oh yes. Quite amusing actually" she commented with an amused smile as Sherlock looked at her for a second. She didn't flinch and instead took a big sip of her tea.

He then put his hands onto one arm of the armchair and lifted his feet up and under him so that he was perching on the seat with his backside braced against the backrest, then clasped his hands under his chin.

"Okay" was all John could say as he limped across the room and dropped heavily into the armchair on the other side of the fireplace. "How did you two get this?"

"By looking… or better say by having Sherlock look" she answered.

"Where?"

"The killer must have driven her to Lauriston Gardens. He could only keep her case by accident if it was in the car. Nobody could be seen with this case without drawing attention – particularly a man, which is statistically more likely – so obviously he'd feel compelled to get rid of it the moment he noticed he still had it. Wouldn't have taken him more than five minutes to realize his mistake. I checked every back street wide enough for a car five minutes from Lauriston Gardens ... and anywhere you could dispose of a bulky object without being observed"

"Impressively it took him less than an hour to find it" she added.

"Pink. You got all that because you realized the case would be pink?" John asked in disbelief.

"Well, it had to be pink, obviously"

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're an idiot" John looked across to him, startled. Sherlock made a placatory gesture with one hand while Lex left out a sigh. "No, no, no, don't look like that. Practically everyone is"

_Ouch Sherly, _Lex thought but stayed quiet as the said man refolded his hands and then extended his index fingers to point at the case.

"Now, look. Do you see what's missing?"

"From the case? How could I?"

"Her phone. Where's her mobile phone? There was no phone on the body, there's no phone in the case. We know she had one – that's her number there; you just texted it"

"Maybe she left it at home"

"Come on John, women never leave their phones home. Especially if they travel big distances" she added and left out a sigh while muttering the word 'Men' under her breath.

Sherlock put his hands onto the arms of the chair and raised himself up so that he could lower his feet to the floor, then sit down properly on the chair. "She has a string of lovers and she's careful about it. She never leaves her phone at home" He put the slip of paper back into the luggage label on the case and looked at John expectantly.

"Er…Why did I just send that text?"

"Well, the question is: where is her phone now?

"She could have lost it."

"Lost it or…?"

"The murderer ... You two think the murderer has the phone?" John said a little after her.

"Maybe she left it when she left her case. Maybe he took it from her for some reason. Either way, the balance of probability is the murderer has her phone" Sherlock explained.

"Sorry, what are we doing? Did I just text a murderer?! What good will that do?"

As if on cue, his phone began to ring. He picked it up and looked at the screen as Lex leaned forward and raised her head a little in hopes to read the caller upside down but there was no caller. Just the word 'Withheld'.

He looks across to the two as the phone continued to ring, worry visible on his face

"A few hours after his last victim, and now he receives a text that can only be from her. If somebody had just found that phone, they'd ignore a text like that, but the murderer ... ***pauses dramatically for a moment until the phone stops ringing*** -"

"Would panic" she concluded as she cut him off.

Sherlock didn't say anything else just flipped the lid of the suitcase closed and stood up, walked across the room to pick up his jacket. At the same time, John continued to stare down at his phone while Lex was already on her feet and wearing her jacket, before the duo walked towards the door.

"Have you talked to the police?" John asked them as he finally stood up.

"Four people are dead. There isn't time to talk to the police"

"So why are you talking to me?"

Sherlock reached behind the door to take his greatcoat from the hook. As he looked across towards John, he noticed that something was missing from the mantelpiece. "Mrs Hudson took my skull"

"So I'm basically filling in for your skull?"

"Relax, you're doing fine" he reassured him as he put on his coat, but John didn't move.

"What about Lex?"

"She is okay at that job but get boring after a while"

"Why thank you for your kind words Sherlock" she said, her tongue dripping with sarcasm and not at all offended by his words.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Well, you could just sit there and watch telly"

"What, you want me to come with you?"

"I like company when I go out, already told you about Lex and I think better when I talk aloud. The skull just attracts attention, so ... " John smiled briefly. "Problem?"

"Yeah, Sergeant Donovan"

"What about her?"

"She said ... You get off on this. You enjoy it"

"And I said "dangerous," and here you are"

Lex smiled at the chemistry between those two and followed Sherlock out of the door. She kept smiling and counting down in her mind.

_5…4…3…2…1_

Just when she finished, she heard the sound of cane and slowed down slightly just as John caught up with them. "Where are we going?"

"What you wrote on that text. Northumberland Street's" Lex answered.

"You think he's stupid enough to go there?"

"No…I think he's brilliant enough. I love the brilliant ones. They're always so desperate to get caught" Sherlock answered this time with a faint smile.

"Why?"

Appreciation! Applause! At long last the spotlight. That's the frailty of genius"

"He needs an audience. All serial killers do. This is how you usually catch them" she continued right after him.

"Yeah"

Oblivious to the implication, Sherlock span around to indicate the entire area as he continued down the road.

"This is his hunting ground, right here in the heart of the city. Now that we know his victims were abducted, that changes everything. Because all of his victims disappeared from busy streets, crowded places, but nobody saw them go" He held his hands up on either side of his head as if to focus his thoughts. "Think! Who do we trust, even though we don't know them? Who passes unnoticed wherever they go? Who hunts in the middle of a crowd?"

"Don't know ***looks at Lex who shrugs her shoulders***

"There are many that fit in this category… I think" she said.

"Who Sherlock?" they both asked him together.

"Haven't the faintest idea. ***shrugs*** Hungry?"

The two of them didn't manage to answer, as Sherlock lead them onwards and into a small restaurant. The waiter near the door clearly knew him and gestured to a reserved table at the front window.

"I am surprised you are that famous Sherlock" Lex teased with a smirk.

"Thank you, Billy" he said and ignored her.

He took off his coat, sat down on the bench seat at the side of the table and immediately turned sideways so that he can see clearly out of the window. As Billy took the 'Reserved' sign off the table, Lex sat next to him while John sat down on the other bench seat with their back to the window and took off his jacket.

"Sherlock why are we here?" he asked him.

"Twenty-two Northumberland Street. Keep your eyes on it" he replied and motioned for the building across the street.

"He isn't just going to ring the doorbell, though, is he? He'd need to be mad"

"He has killed four people"

"... Okay"

The manager and/or owner of the restaurant came over, clearly pleased to see Sherlock once again. "Sherlock" the man greeted him, and they shook hands. Anything on the menu, whatever you want, free ***lays a couple of menus on the table***" On the house, for you and for your date ***motions to Lex*** and your friend of course*

"Do you want to eat?" Sherlock asked them.

"I'm not his date sir. Sorry to ruin the dream" Lex said and ignored his question.

"No worries. This man got me off a murder charge"

"This is Angelo" Holmes introduced.

"Greetings," Lex said and shook hands with the man. "I am Lex, and this is John" the two men shake hands.

"Three years ago I successfully proved to Lestrade at the time of a particularly a vicious triple murder that Angelo was in a completely different part of town, house-breaking"

"He cleared my name" Angelo explained.

"I cleared it a bit. Anything happening opposite?"

"Nothing…But for this man, I'd have gone to prison"

"You did go to prison"

"I'll get a candle for the table. It's more romantic"

"She is not his date!" John said in a raised voice.

"Leave it, John. Deaf ears" she explained as she leaned a little on Sherlock to glance at the menu he was holding.

After a minute, he put the menu down onto the table.

"You may as well eat. We might have a long wait"

Angelo came back with a small glass bowl containing a lit tea light. He put it onto the table and gave Lex a thumbs-up before turning and walking away again.


	6. Chapter 6

Later, John had a plate of food in front of him and was eating, Lex slowly ate a salad and Sherlock's attention was fixed out of the window while he was quietly drumming his fingers on the table.

"People don't have arch-enemies" John said out of the blew and it took a moment, but Sherlock finally looked around.

"I'm sorry?"

"In real life. There are no arch enemies in real life. Doesn't happen. Don't you agree, Lex?"

"Well…"

"Doesn't it? Sounds a bit dull" he answered and looked out the window again.

"So who did I meet?"

"What do real people have, then, in their 'real lives'?"

"Friends; people they know; people they like; people they don't like ... Girlfriends, boyfriends ..."

"Yes, well, as I was saying – dull"

"You don't have a girlfriend, then?"

"Girlfriend? No, not really my area."

"Oh, right. Do you have a boyfriend?" Sherlock looked around at him sharply. "Which is fine, by the way"

"I know it's fine" he said as Lex almost choked on her salad and gulped down water while holding her laughter.

John smiled to indicate that he wasn't signifying anything negative by what he said. "So you've got a boyfriend then?"

"No"

"You sound surprised John" Lex pointed out.

"Not really ***smiles*** Right. Okay. You're unattached. Like me… what about you Lex?"

"Me? ***John nods*** no to both. Not really interested in such things at the moment"

"So you are also unattached… great… good"

A few moments of awkward silence between them. Both John and Lex had finished eating and the latter was looking out of the window with Sherlock.

"Guys look. Across the street. Taxi" John twisted in his seat to look out of the window where a taxi had parked at the side of the road with its back end towards the restaurant. "…Stopped. Nobody getting in, and nobody getting out"

In the rear seat of the taxi the male passenger was looking through the side windows as if was trying to see somebody particular.

"Why a taxi? Oh, that's clever. Is it clever? Why is it clever?" Sherlock asked himself.

"That's him?"

"Don't stare" he told them.

John and Lex immediately turned their attention to the front, but the latter kept an eye on the taxi with the tip of her eye.

"You're staring"

"We can't all stare"

Getting to his feet, Sherlock grabbed his coat and scarf and headed for the door. John picked up his own jacket and followed along with Lex, him completely forgetting to take his walking cane with him.

Outside the door, Sherlock shrugged himself into his coat while keeping his eyes fixed on the taxi. The passenger continued to look around him, then turned and looked out the back window. His gaze fell on the restaurant and he looked at it for a few moments while Sherlock stared back at him, then the man turned towards the front of the vehicle and the taxi began to pull away from.

Sherlock immediately headed towards it without bothering to check the road that he's running into and was almost run over by a car coming from his left. The driver slammed on the brakes and stopped the car but Sherlock, always keen to take the quickest route, allowed his forward impetus to carry him onto the top of the bonnet. He then rolled over the bonnet landed on his feet on the other side and then ran after the taxi. As the driver of the car angrily sounded his horn, John pus one hand on the bonnet and vaulted over the front of the car, apologizing to the driver as he went.

Lex already in front of him, showing good speed and stamina as she slowly managed to approached Sherlock who kept running. However this time she also kept an eye on her behind, to check on John.

They chased after Sherlock, who ran a few yards up the road before realizing that he's not going to catch the taxi and slowed to a halt. They caught up with him and stopped beside him.

"I've got the cab number" John informed.

"Good for you"

Sherlock brought his hands up to either side of his head and concentrated, calling up a mental map of the local area and overlaying it with images of the streets along the route which he calculated that the taxi must take. "Right turn, one way, roadworks, traffic lights, bus lane, pedestrian crossing, left turn only, traffic lights…" Having worked out the route, he lifted his head and saw a man unlocking the door to a nearby building. Instantly his mind flashed up a signpost saying, "ALTERNATIVE ROUTE." He then raced towards the man and grabbed him, shoving him out of the way before charging into the building.

"Oi!" The man exclaimed as Lex hurried after him.

John followed right behind her and apologized to the man by raising his hand as he went in.

The three of them raced up the stairs and out onto a metal spiral fire escape staircase leading to the roof. Sherlock, the lanky git, took the steps two or even three at a time. Lex close behind him doing almost the same while John struggled to keep up as he scurried up behind them.

"Come on, John" Sherlock said.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Sherlock ran to the edge and looked over before seeing a shorter metal spiral staircase leading down the side of the building to another door one floor lower.

He galloped down the stairs and climbed onto the railing before leaping across the gap to the next building. Lex swiftly and easily follow his lead but stopped to check on John who scrambled onto the railing but managed to follow. She turned to look at Sherlock surprised.

_He is in much better shape than I had expected, _she thought in her mind as she watched him. running across to the other side of the roof and again leaping across to the next building. Lex quickly followed with John and with impressive strength and grace, she jumped too. Landed on her feet, she took a deep breath and turned to look at John who had come to a halt when he realized that the gap may be too big for him to jump across.

As if in sympathy, pedestrian traffic lights on the ground change from the green "It is safe to cross" sign to the red "Stop and wait" sign.

"Come on, John. We're losing him!"

"You can do it, John. Trust me" she said in a calmer tone and tried to encourage her friend.

John backed up a few paces and braced himself. As the traffic lights change to "Safe to cross" again, he took a run-up and leapt the gap. Dropping down onto a walkway along the side of the building, our heroes ran onwards.

The taxi continued its journey on the ground as they gallop down another metal staircase then ran to a ledge and drop down into an alleyway before running onwards again. Sherlock led them down the alleyway as, in his head, a map showed their location in comparison to where the taxi must be. Their paths were beginning to get closer and they were heading towards a point where Sherlock and John would exit the alleyway onto D'Arblay Street, into which the taxi was just turning.

Holmes turned the corner and raced down the last part of the alley, only to see the taxi drive past the end, heading to the left.

"Ah, no!" he exclaimed angrily as he raced out of the end of the alley and turned right. "This way"

Lex heard him and turned but John instinctively turned left in pursuit of the Taxi.

"John, this way!" she shouted at him.

"Sorry," he said, turning and headed back in the opposite direction, following Sherlock and Lex.

In the leader' mind-map, he picked a new point where they could intercept the cab. They ran down the street, taking a shorter route than the taxi which was being diverted by various road signs taking it the long way around. They head down more alleyways and side streets towards the interception point in Wardour Street and finally, at the precise point which the mental map predicted. Sherlock was the first to race out of a side street and hurled himself into the path of the approaching cab, which screeched to a halt as he crashed hard into the bonnet.

Scrabbling in his left coat pocket, Sherlock pulled out an I.D. badge and flashed it at the driver as he ran to the right-hand side of the cab.

"Police! Open her up!" he ordered.

Panting heavily, he tugged open the rear door and stared in at the passenger, who looked back at him anxiously. Instantly Sherlock straightened up in exasperation just as John and Lex joined him.

"No?" she asked as he noticed his face.

"No" he confirmed as he leaned down again to look at the passenger a second time. "Teeth, tan: what – Californian? ***looks at something on the floor in front of the passenger*** L.A., Santa Monica. Just arrived"

He straightened up again, grimacing.

"How can you possibly know that?" John asked him.

"The luggage"

The duo looked down at the suitcase on the floor of the cab and its luggage label showing that the man had flown from LAX [Los Angeles International Airport] to LHR [London Heathrow Airport].

"It's probably your first trip to London, right, going by your final destination and the route the cabbie was taking you?"

"Sorry – are you guys the police?"

"Yeah. ***flashes the I.D. badge briefly at the man*** Everything all right?"

"Yeah"

Sherlock paused for a moment as if wondering how to finish this conversation, then smiled falsely at the man.

"Welcome to London"

He immediately then walked away, leaving John staring blankly for a moment before he stepped closer to the taxi door and looks in at the passenger. "Er, any problems, just let us know"

As the man nodded, John smiled politely and slammed the cab door shut. The man looked round to the taxi driver in bewilderment just as John and Lex walked to where Sherlock has stopped a few yards behind the vehicle.

"Basically just a cab that happened to slow down" Lex said.

"Basically"

"Not the murderer"

"Not the murderer, no"

"Wrong country, good alibi" John added.

"Yes… perhaps is a taxi driver after all. Just not this one"

"Perhaps" Sherlock said as he started to think again while switching the I.D. card from one hand to another.

"Hey, where-where did you get this?" he asked and went for the card. "Right. ***looks at the name on the card*** Detective Inspector Lestrade?"

"You pickpocketed him, didn't you?" Lex asked amused.

"Yeah. I pickpocket him every time he's annoying. You can keep that one, I've got plenty at the flat"

John nodded and then looked down at the card again before lifting his head and giggling silently.

"What?"

"Nothing, just: "Welcome to London."

Lex and Sherlocked chuckled while looking down the road to where a police officer had apparently gone to investigate why the cab had stopped in the middle of the street. The passenger had got out and is pointing down the road towards them.

"You two got your breath back?"

"Ready when you are," Lex said and a second later our three heroes started to run off down the road.

* * *

Our heroes reached their home and had just walked in but instead of continuing, they decided to catch their breaths in the hallway. John and Lex took off their jackets and hanged them while Sherlock draped his coat over the bottom of the bannisters.

"Okay, that was ridiculous," John said as the two men leaned side by side against one wall while Lex leaned on the one across. "That was the most ridiculous thing I've ever done"

"And you invaded Afghanistan" Sherlock pointed out.

John giggled adorably and after a moment Sherlock also began to laugh while Lex chuckled but her chuckle turned into a laughter too.

"That wasn't just me"

"Right, right John. Either way, you did that, and you cannot deny it" she said and smiled at the shorter man as Sherlock chuckled.

"Why aren't we back at the restaurant?"

"Oh, they can keep an eye out. It was a long shot anyway.

"So what were we doing there?"

"Oh, just passing the time"

"Why do I think there is something more?" Lex commented.

"Yes… also to prove a point" the detective said and looked at John.

"What point?"

"You" he said simply as Lex smiled, understanding where this was leading. "Mrs. Hudson! Doctor Watson will take the room upstairs"

"Says who?"

"Says the man at the door" Holmes explained and looked at the door just as someone knocked three times.

John looked at the younger man in surprise and then at Lex who kept smiling but also looking at the man across from her with an impressed look. After a moment of silence, the army doctor walked along the hall to door. Opens it only to find Angelo standing outside.

"Sherlock texted me" the man explained and smiled while holding up John's walking cane. "He said you forgot this"

"Ah" he replied and looked at the cane shocked before taking it from the man. He then turned to look at Sherlock who was grinning like a madman and then at Lex who winked at him. "Er, thank you. Thank you"

As he came back in and closed the door, Mrs. Hudson came out of her flat and hurried over to them. "Sherlock, what have you done?" she asked upset and ready to burst into tears.


	7. Chapter 7

"Mrs Hudson?" Lex asked her worried.

"Upstairs"

Without losing a moment, our heroes climbed up the stairs and enter the men's apartment, only to find Lestrade sitting casually in the armchair facing the door while other police officers were going through Sherlock's possessions.

Sherlock stormed over to Lestrade. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I knew you'd find the case. I'm not stupid"

"You can't just break into my flat"

"And you can't withhold evidence. And I didn't break into your flat"

"Well, what do you call this then?"

"It's a drugs bust," the detective said innocently.

"Seriously?! This guy, a junkie?! Have you met him?!" John asked in disbelief.

Sherlock turned and walked closer to John, biting his lip nervously as Lex looked anywhere but the detective or the man next to her. "John ..."

"I'm pretty sure you could search this flat all day, you wouldn't find anything you could call recreational"

"John, you probably want to shut up now," Lex said as she kept an eye on the officers.

"Yeah but come on."

He looked into his eyes and the taller man held his gaze for a long moment. John fell deeply and instantly in love realized how serious he's looking. "No"

"What?"

"You?"

"Shut up!" Sherlock said angrily as John turned to Lex.

"You knew?"

"…Yes…" she said in a low tone and kept her eyes on the officers.

"I'm not your sniffer dog," Holmes said to the detective.

"No, Anderson 's my sniffer dog"

"What, An-" On cue, the closed doors to the kitchen slide open and revealed several more officers in there searching through the room. Anderson turned towards the living room and raised his hand in sarcastic greeting. "Anderson, what are you doing here on a drugs bust?"

"Oh, I volunteered"

That caused Sherlock to turn away while biting his lip angrily.

"They all did. They're not strictly speaking on the drugs squad, but they're very keen"

Lex mentally cursed the men in the flat for what they were doing. She had her respect for Sherlock, and she knew that those police offer just wanted to mess with him. She had taken up enough of how rude they were and to her eyes, they looked like useless pigs. Usually, she stayed indifferent to such matters or kept her calm, but she had taken a soft spot for the sociopath.

Donovan came into view from the kitchen, holding a small glass jar with some white round objects in it. "Are these human eyes?" she asked.

"Put those back!"

"They were in the microwave!"

"It's an experiment"

"Keep looking, guys" Lestrade ordered as he stood up and turned to Sherlock. "Or you could help us properly and I'll stand them down."

"This is childish" Lex commented as she took a step forward towards the detective, itching to grab the gun from her pocket and kick those people out.

They had a case to solve, people's lives to save and the police simply couldn't take the fact that they were not in their waters. She accepted Lestrade and held some respect for the man, but she was tired and not in the mood to see all of this.

"Well, I'm dealing with a child. Sherlock, this is our case. I'm letting you in, but you do not go off on your own. Clear?"

"Oh, what, so-so-so you set up a pretend drugs bust to bully me?"

"It stops pretending if they find anything"

"I am clean!"

"Is your flat? All of it?"

"I don't even smoke"

To prove his point, he unbuttoned the cuff of his left shirt and pulled it up to show a nicotine patch on his lower arm. Presumably, he had removed the other two earlier.

"Neither do I," Lestrade said as he pulled his sleeve to show a similar patch on his arm. Sherlock rolled his eyes and turned away as they both pull their sleeves back down again.

"So let's work together. We've found Rachel"

"Now we are talking" Lex commented.

"Who is she?" Sherlock asked.

"Jennifer Wilson's only daughter"

"Her daughter? Why would she write her daughter's name? Why?"

"Never mind that. We found the case" Anderson said she pointed to the pink suitcase in the living room. "According to someone, the murderer has the case, and we found it in the hands of our favourite psychopath"

"You cannot be serious," she said and folded her hands in front of her chest while narrowing her brown eyes.

"I'm not a psychopath, Anderson. I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research. ***turns back to Lestrade*** You need to bring Rachel in. You need to question her. I need to question her"

"She's dead"

"Excellent!" he exclaimed and startled John while Lex raised an eyebrow. "How, when and why? Is there a connection? There has to be"

"Well, I doubt it, since she's been dead for fourteen years. Technically she was never alive. Rachel was Jennifer Wilson's stillborn daughter, fourteen years ago"

John grimaced sadly and turned away, Alex kept face neutral while Sherlock, on the other hand, just looked confused. "No, that's ... that's not right. How ... Why would she do that? Why?"

"Why would she think of her daughter in her last moments? Yup – sociopath; I'm seeing it now" Anderson added.

"She didn't think about her daughter. She scratched her name on the floor with her fingernails. She was dying. It took effort. It would have hurt" Sherlock stated and started to pace back and forth across the room again.

"You said that the victims all took the poison themselves, that he makes them take it. Well, maybe he ... I don't know, talks to them. Maybe he used the death of her daughter somehow"

"Yeah, but that was ages ago. Why would she still be upset?"

John stared at him and Alex faked coughed. Sherlock hesitated when he realized that everyone in the flat had stopped what they're doing and had fallen silent. He glanced around the room and then looks awkwardly at John and Lex. "Not good?"

"Bit not good, yeah…. Actually… almost not good at all" she said, and he shook it off before taking a step closer to John and look at him intently.

"Yeah, but if you were dying ... if you'd been murdered: in your very last few seconds what you would say?"

"Please, God, let me live."

"Oh, use your imagination!"

"I don't have to"

Sherlock seemed to recognize the look of pain in John's face. He paused momentarily and blinked a couple of times, shifting his feet apologetically before turning to Lex. "Nothing. At least me"

The man mumbled a curse under his breath and then took a deep breath before speaking again. "Yeah, but if you were clever, really clever ... Jennifer Wilson running all those lovers: she was clever ***starts to pace again* **She's trying to tell us something"

Mrs Hudson came suddenly to the door of the living room.

"Isn't the doorbell working? Your taxi's here, Sherlock"

"I didn't order a taxi. Go away" he said and continued to pace.

_A taxi? Can it be? No way… unless… it is a far cry from possible but yet again, _Lex kept thinking and glancing at the door, ready to go down and check but stopped when Sherlock raised his voice.

"Shut up, everybody, shut up! Don't move, don't speak, don't breathe. I'm trying to think. Anderson, face the other way. You're putting me off"

"What? My face is?!"

"Everybody quiet and still. Anderson, turn your back"

"Oh, for God's sake!"

"Your back, now, please!" Lestrade ordered.

"Come on, think. Quick!" Sherlock muttered to himself while everyone watched.

"What about your taxi?" Mrs Hudson asked confused.

Sherlock turned his head to look at her. "MRS HUDSON!" She turned and hurried away down the stairs. He stopped and looked around as he finally realized something. "Oh," He smiled in delight. "Ah! She was clever, clever, yes!"

"Uhm Sherlock?" Lex called him as he walked across the room and turned his back to them, ignoring everyone.

"She's cleverer than you lot and she's dead. Do you see, do you get it? She didn't lose her phone, she never lost it. She planted it on him. *paces again* When she got out of the car, she knew that she was going to her death. She left the phone to lead us to her killer"

"But how?" Lestrade asked.

The sociopath stopped and stared at him. "Wha...? What do you mean, how?" Lestrade shrugged. "Rachel! ***looks at everyone triumphantly. They all look back blankly*** Don't you see? Rachel! ***Still everyone looks blank. Sherlock laughs in disbelief*** "Oh, look at you lot. You're all so vacant. Is it nice not being me? It must be so relaxing. ***More sternly*** Rachel is not a name"

"Then what is it?" John asked as Lex lifted an eyebrow.

"John, on the luggage, there's a label. E-mail address"

The Army doctor did exactly that. "Er, Jennie dot pink at mephone dot org dot uk"

At the same time, Sherlock had sat down at the dining table and was looking at his computer notebook. Lex walked and stood by his side, slowly understanding what he was talking about. "Oh, I've been too slow. She didn't have a laptop which means she did her business on her phone, so it's a smartphone, it's e-mail enabled" he typed and pulled up Mephone's website before typing the email address into the 'Username' box. "So there was a website for her account. The username is her e-mail address ... ***types the password*** ... and all together now, the password is?"

"Rachel!" Lex exclaimed as John joined her and Sherlock gave a nod.

"So we can read her e-mails. So what?

"Anderson don't talk out loud. You lower the I.Q. of the whole street. We can do much more than just read her e-mails. It's a smartphone, it's got GPS, which means if you lose it you can locate it online. She's leading us directly to the man who killed her"

"Unless he got rid of it" Lestrade suggested.

"We know he didn't" John informed him.

Sherlock looked at the screen impatiently. "Come on, come on. Quickly!"

Lex found herself biting the inside of her right cheek, a bad habit when she was waiting in suspense. She stared at the screen but was forced to look up when she heard trotting from the stairs. The door to the apartment opened and the landlady came in.

"Sherlock, dear. This taxi driver ..."

The said man grew tired and waiting for the results simply didn't help his frustration. Without losing a moment, he got to his feet and walked towards the older woman. "Mrs Hudson, isn't it time for your evening soother?"

John and Lex eyed each other before the man managed to sit on the now empty chair, first. She shook her head and looked back at the screen, seeing a clock spinning round on the website as it claimed that the phone would be located in under three minutes.

"We have 3 minutes until its located" she informed and looked at the Detective. "You better get your vehicles ready…maybe a helicopter too"

He gave a nod and Sherlock decided to add. "We're gonna have to move fast. This phone battery won't last forever"

"We'll just have a map reference, not a name," the detective said.

"It's a start!"

At last, the minutes passed and the mapped appeared on the computer screen. It zoomed in on the location on the phone, causing Lex to frown her eyebrows and lean closer.

"Sherlock ..." John called the man, his voice slightly shaking.

"It narrows it down from just anyone in London. It's the first proper lead that we've had" the man continued, ignoring his friend.

"Sherlock, you might want to see this" Lex tried.

Annoyed, he hurried across the room to look over John's free shoulder "What is it? Quickly, where?"

"It's here. It's in two two one Baker Street."

Sherlock straightened up. "How can it be here? How?"

"Well, maybe it was in the case when you brought it back and it fell out somewhere" Lestrade suggested.

"What, and I didn't notice it? Me? I didn't notice?"

Lex scoffed and John decided to try and help. "Anyway, we texted him and he called back"

The Detective simply turned to call out to his colleagues. "Guys, we're also looking for a mobile somewhere here, belonged to the victim…"

The woman facepalmed and left out a deep sigh while the high functional sociopath tuned everyone out as e began to remember questions, he asked John and Lex earlier. "Who do we trust, even if we don't know them?"

While everyone was occupied, no one noticed the Taxi Driver coming up and standing behind the landlady. The man was wearing a cardigan and with a cap on his head obscuring his face, he had a badge in a leather holder on a cord around his neck. The badge was for a licensed London cab driver.

Sherlock kept mumbling and thinking. "Who passes unnoticed wherever they go?... Who hunts in the middle of a crowd?"

Flashbacks, scenarios and ideas passed through his mind as he finally managed to put the pieces together.

All this time, the taxi driver had taken out a pink smartphone from his pocket and pressed the screen to send a text. A moment later, Sherlock's phone chimed a text alert. Taking his phone from his jacket pocket he looked at the message which simply read: COME WITH ME.

As he turned his head towards the door, the taxi driver turned around and calmly headed off down the stairs.

"Sherlock, you okay?" John asked as now the duo was watching him worried.

"What? Yeah, yeah, I-I'm fine." He replied vaguely while watching where the man once stood.

Lex stood up and stood by his side, watching the same thing and narrowing her brown eyes. Something was odd about him.

"So, how can the phone be here?"

"Dunno"

"I'll try it again," he said and got his phone out of his pocket.

"Good idea," Sherlock said and started to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Lex asked him.

"Fresh air. Just popping outside for a moment. Won't be long"

The duo frowned as he left the room and called after him. "You sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine" he replied while hurrying down the stairs.

They looked at each other, frowning more. "Something is odd"

"I agree"


	8. Chapter 8

They watched Sherlock running down the stairs and Lex quickly rushed to the window to watch where and what the man was doing. John stood not too far away from her with his phone to his ear. The sound of cub pulling away could be heard. "He just got in a cab. ***turns to Lestrade*** It's Sherlock. He just drove off in a cab"

Donovan who was standing beside Lestrade tutted in irritation. "I told you, he does that. ***turns to Lestrade*** He bloody left again ***walks back into the kitchen, talking loudly*** We're wasting our time!"

Lex rolled her eyes at the drama of the Sergeant and looked at John who had still the phone next to his ear.

"I'm calling the phone. It's ringing out" he said to the Detective.

"If it's ringing, it's not here"

The woman lifted her hands and looked up at the sky, wanting to smack anyone who thought that the phone was in the apartment with them. Sherlock would have noticed, that was certain and even if the impossible happened and he didn't, someone would have by now.

John lowered the phone and reached for the computer, not failing to look at the gesture Lex had done a few seconds prior. "I'll try the search again"

Donovan returned, causing out heroine to frown. "Does it matter? Does any of it? You know, he's just a lunatic, and he'll always let you down, and you're wasting your time. All our time"

Standing up, Lex marched and stood in front of the Sergeant. She stared her down in the eyes for a long time, her brown hues daring her. "Want to say that again?" she spat, her right hand slightly itching.

The Policewoman stared back, not intimidated by the actions of our heroine. However, the longer she stared, the more uncomfortable she felt. In defeat, at last, she looked away and left out a sigh of frustration. Lestrade decided to interfere before some murder would take place, worrying about the safety of the very commentary Sergeant.

"Okay, everybody. Done 'ere" he shouted.

* * *

It didn't take long for everyone to pack their things and go, allowing some peace for John and Lex who had their minds on Sherlock. He was fully capable of keeping himself safe but that didn't mean they weren't worried with his actions; his actions that were still unclear to them.

"Why did he do that? Why did he have to leave?" Lestrade asked them as he wore his coat.

Lex shrugged and John spoke up for both of them. "You know him better than we do"

"I've known him for five years and no, I don't"

"So why do you put up with him?"

"Because I'm desperate, that's why" was his reply and walked towards the door but came to a halt. "And because Sherlock Holmes is a great man. And I think one day, if we're very, very lucky, he might even be a good one"

Lex smiled at the man, understanding why Sherlock slightly tolerated him more than others. He was a good man and a smart one as well. She was thankful there were people like him in the police force.

* * *

Some time passed and Lex had decided to make some tea for both of them while waiting for Sherlock. She was in the kitchen, deep in thought; he was alone in the living room. He walked and by instinct clenched his right hand as if realizing that he didn't have his walking cane. He looked round and saw the cane lying on top of a box of papers next to the dining table and went over to collect it.

With its back to him, Sherlock's notebook was still on Mephone's website and the clock was spinning on the screen while the site searched for Jennifer Wilson's phone. As John picked, the computer beeped triumphantly, and a map appeared on the screen before start to zoom in on the new location of the phone. Hearing the sound, Lex rushed out of the kitchen and quickly joined John as they both leaned on the computer, the ma propping his cane against the table. Taking the laptop on his laps, the duo looked at the map and then at each other.

Wasting no time, Lex closed the laptop and placed it under her arm before rushing to the door. John was quick to follow her without realizing that he had left his cane behind once again.

* * *

It took our two heroes very little time to find a taxi and they were both sitting at the back with the computer open and on John's lap. The man was on the phone, trying to get the detective while Lex was looking at the screen and then at the road.

"Right, turn right," she said, and the driver gave a nod.

"No, Detective Inspector Lestrade. I need to speak to him. It's important. It's an emergency!" John shouted on the phone, getting frustrated and worried.

"Left here" Lex ordered, and they looked at each other.

She was calmer or at least she looked to be calmer than he was. They had finally realized what had happened and were more worried about Sherlock's safety than scolding him about the crazy stunt he had just pulled.

* * *

They finally arrived at their destination, Roland-Kerr College. Their hearts were beating faster as John climbed off the taxi and Lex paid. The man tucked the notebook into his jacket and looked at the identical buildings in front of him. She joined him soon after.

The map wasn't precise enough to indicate exactly where the phone is.

"I take the right and you take the left?" she asked.

He gave a nod and the duo split up, unaware of what was expecting them.

* * *

Inside one classroom. Sherlock was playing his favorite game with the kidnapper; the deduction game. So far he had unraveled his name, that his wife was dead and that he was also dying himself; which actually made him start this murdering game without any remorse or worry of being caught. However, his time was over, and he was pushed more to make a choice. A choice on which bottle to take. There were two in total, one with each pill. He would take one and would try it, risking the 50% chance of actually dying like the rest of the man's victims.

Unaware to him, John and Lex were looking like crazy. John was actually in the right building but wrong floor. He passed through each classroom and shouted the man's name, but he was met only with silence.

Lex was on the wrong building but kept searching, being unaware…until she came to a halt in front of a classroom. Her brown eyes widened in shock and she rushed towards the windows, seeing Sherlock on the building across from her.

She was about to call John when she noticed the genius man picking up one of the bottles.

* * *

Sherlock unscrew the lid of the bottle, realising that the time was up. He had delayed but also tried to find out more, especially for those who hired the killer because Sherlock himself had attracted their attention. He took out the capsule and held it between his thumb and finger, raising it to the light to examine it more closely.

"Still the addict" the cab driver said. Slowly he lowered the pill again, holding it at eye level and gazing at it. "But this ... this is what you're really addicted to, innit?" Sherlock held the pill in his fingers and stares at it. "You'd do anything ... anything at all ..."Sherlock's fingers began to tremble with excitement and anticipation. "... to stop being bored" Slowly Sherlock began to move the pill closer to his mouth. Jeff matched the movement with his own pill towards his own mouth. "You're not bored now, are you?" Each of their hands gets closer to their mouths. "Innit good?"

Before anything else could happen, a gunshot rang out and a bullet impacted Jeff's chest close to his heart, continuing through his body and smashing into the door behind him. As he fell to the floor, Sherlock dropped his pill in surprise. In the opposite building, Lex had her pistol still raised and aimed out of the window. Her face was emotionless as she lowered the gun and stared at the classroom across from her.

Sherlock turned, slide over the desk behind him and hurried to the window, bending down to stare through the bullet hole in the glass. The window of the opposite room was open but there was nobody in sight.


	9. Chapter 9

_Moriarty, _Sherlock thought as he sat on the back steps of an ambulance.

That was the name the cab driver had said before dying, after much shouting of course. It was the man, the sponsor who was intrigued by Sherlock. But who was this man? His mind searched for information and hints but came back empty. He was snapped from his thought when a paramedic put an orange blanket around his shoulders as Lestrade walked over with Lex next to him. He was not surprised seeing the woman, having bumped on her when he exited the building; just as meds and police arrived.

He had seen her standing with John behind the police tape while he had made himself comfortable on the ambulance steps while thinking. He needed to think so he needed distance Now, a different matter was at hand and he gestured to the blanket. "Why have I got this blanket? They keep putting this blanket on me"

"Yeah, it's for shock"

"I'm not in shock"

"Yeah, but some of the guys wanna take photographs" he grinned.

Sherlock and Lex rolled their eyes. "Just accept it for now. You will get rid of it in a few minutes either way" she said.

"So, the shooter. No sign?" the sociopath asked.

"Cleared off before we got 'ere. But a guy like that would have had enemies, I suppose. One of them could have been following him but ... ***shrugs*** ... got nothing to go on"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that"

"Okay, gimme"

Sherlock stood up. "The bullet they just dug out of the wall from a handgun. Kill shot over that distance from that kind of a weapon – that's a crack shot you're looking for, but not just a marksman; a fighter. His hands couldn't have shaken at all, so clearly, he's acclimatized to violence. He didn't fire until I was in immediate danger, though, so strong moral principle. You're looking for a man probably with a history of military service ..." While talking, the image of somebody flashed into his mind and turned his head to look around the area. He spotted John standing and waiting behind the police tape "... and nerves of steel ..."

He trailed off as John looked back at him innocently.

"Sherlock?" Lex asked as she and the Detective turned their head to see where he was staring.

"Actually, do you know what? Ignore me"

"Sorry?"

"Ignore all of that. It's just the, er, the shock talking"

Lex lifted an eyebrow and watched as he started to walk towards John. She quickly followed him, a faint smile on her lips while Lestrade ran behind them, confused beyond point. "Where're you going?"

"I just need to talk about the-the rent"

"But I've still got questions for you"

Sherlock turned back to the Detective in irritation. "Oh, what now? I'm in shock! Look, I've got a blanket!"

He went as far as to brandish the sides of the blanket to prove it, causing Lex to hold back some laughter.

"Sherlock" the detective wined.

"And I just caught you a serial killer ... more or less"

He looked at the woman who simply shrugged her shoulder. Leaving out a sigh, he thought for a moment. "Okay. We'll bring you in tomorrow. Off you go"

The duo walked away, Sherlock getting rid of the blanket a few steps away from the Detective. The woman ducked first under the tape and he followed suit.

"Sergeant Donovan's just been explaining everything, the two pills. Been a dreadful business, hasn't it? Dreadful" John said, trying to hide the fact that he had seen everything.

Well, almost everything. He had managed to see Sherlock bringing the pill closer to his mouth while he ran to stop him. However, someone else did and the shot shocked him enough to stop as a small memory from his time serving replied in his mind. Clearing his head and reminding himself that Sherlock was in danger, he rushed to the door of the classroom but stopped when he noticed him being untouched and instead the cab driver being shot on the ground.

He had then decided to leave, knowing very well that Police would come up any moment and the last thing he wanted; was to be questioned about everything. However, he couldn't help and wonder who the gunner was since he also saw nothing.

"Good shot," Sherlock said quietly to the man.

"Yes. Yes, must have been, through that window" John said, getting slightly confused.

"Well, you'd know"

John gazed up at him, now fully confused. His innocent act though didn't fully persuade the taller man in front of him. "Need to get the powder burns out of your fingers. I don't suppose you'd serve time for this, but let's avoid the court case"

"Are you all right?" Lex asked, deciding to join as well.

"Yes, of course, I'm all right"

"Well, you have just killed a man"

"Yes, I ...wait a minute…Sherlock, I didn't take the shot" he said.

"No need to play innocent, you fit the profile perfectly," the man said.

"Yeah well…I didn't shoot. I would but someone else beat me to it"

Sherlock blinked and leaned closer to John's face. "Impossible…who else could have taken that shot?"

"I wasn't even at that building. Lex was"

The two men look at her. "I was at the same building as the shooter, but I saw nothing. I heard the gunshot and rushed to the closest window. I suspect the shooter was on levels higher than me"

The raven-haired man narrowed his light blue eyes for a moment, staring at her before straightening his back. "Oh well…this won't go unsolved, mark my words. I will find who this shooter is"

"I presume we will be forced to help you?" Lex said with a smile, causing him to lift an eyebrow.

"She has a point. After the adventure, you dragged us in"

Sherlock smiled in amusement. "Yes, we… you are more tolerable than the police and you get work done"

The duo chuckled and then the three heroes decided to walk away.

"So, do we take a Taxi?" John asked.

"If we do, better be than that murderous cabbie. Should have seen the route he took us to get here"

John and Lex giggled, and Sherlock smiled.

"Stop! Stop, we can't giggle, it's a crime scene! Stop it!" The shorter man said.

"Oh come on, you think Sherlock cares about that?"

More giggles came from them as they passed Sergeant Donovan who eyed them carefully.

"Sorry – it's just, um, nerves, I think," John told her.

"Sorry" Sherlock was right after while Lex gave a small salute.

They walked for a minute or two in utter silence, the laughter dying and a more serious mood settling in. "You were gonna take that damned pill, weren't you?"

"Course I wasn't. Biding my time. Knew you two would turn up"

"No, you didn't. It's how you get your kicks, isn't it? You risk your life to prove you're clever"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're an idiot"

"A prideful idiot" Lex corrected him.

Sherlock smiled, apparently delighted that he had finally found someone who understood him and – more to the point – doesn't care about his behaviour; not to mention that were two this time. After a moment he forced the smile down. "Dinner?"

"Starving" John asked and they turned to look at her.

"Don't even ask. Just keep walking"

She smiled and watched they walk by her side, the gun in her pocket barely weighing her down. She barely thought about the man she had just killed, her brain focusing on the nice moment now but reminded her to be careful next time; not wanting Sherlock to connect any dots…yet.

"End of Baker Street, there's a good Chinese stay open 'til two. You can always tell a good Chinese by examining the bottom third of the door handle" Sherlock said, snapping her from her small thought and kept speaking.

A few yards ahead of them a car had pulled up and the man who abducted John earlier got out, a woman was with him; John stared. "Sherlock. That's him. That's the man I was talking to you about" he said, and the duo turned to look at the direction, their eyes landing on the man in the suit,

"I know exactly who that is," Sherlock said and started to walk closer to the man, his body language showing his anger.

He stooped right in front of him, staring him in the eyes with an intensity no one had seen before. Lex stood not too far away, ready to grab Sherlock back in case he decided to do something extreme and attack while John glanced around, ready to call the police if something happened.

"So, another case cracked. How very public-spirited ... though that's never really your motivation, is it?" the man told him.

"What are you doing here?" Sherlock asked.

"As ever, I'm concerned about you"

"Yes, I've been hearing about your 'concern'"

"Always so aggressive. Did it never occur to you that you and I belong on the same side?"

"Oddly enough, no!"

"We have more in common than you like to believe. This petty feud between us is simply childish. People will suffer ... and you know how it always upset Mummy"

John frowned as if unsure of what he had just heard. He looked at Lex who shrugged her shoulders and kept observing the interaction between the two men.

"I upset her? Me?" The man glowered at him. "It wasn't me that upset her, Mycroft"

"No, no, wait. Mummy? Who's Mummy?" John asked, getting enough of being left in the dark.

"Mother – our mother. This is my brother, Mycroft" The shorter man stared at this brother in amazement while Lex kept her face more neutral. Sherlock turned to his brother. "Putting on weight again?"

"Losing it, in fact"

"He's your brother?!" John hissed to the taller man and then looked at Lex "And how are you so calm?!"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I have a good poker face" she replied.

"Of course he's my brother," Sherlock told him.

"So he's not ..."

"Not what?"

The brothers and Lex look at John as he shrugged in embarrassment. "I dunno – criminal mastermind?"

Lex found herself placing a hand in front of her lips, trying to hide her smile and contain the need to laugh at both the accusation and also at John's face.

Sherlock looked at Mycroft disparagingly. "Close enough"

"For goodness' sake. I occupy a minor position in the British government" Mycroft defended.

"He is the British government when he's not too busy being the British Secret Service or the CIA on a freelance basis" Sherlock corrected him, and his brother left out a sigh in defeat. "Good evening, Mycroft. Try not to start a war before I get home. You know what it does for the traffic"

Lex almost chocked on her saliva at Sherlock's words, turning it into a cough and getting the attention of the three men. She cleared her throat and her apartment mate started to walk away. She decided to follow him, feeling the eyes of Mycroft on her even as she put more and more distance between them. She was forced to stop next to Sherlock when they noticed John talking to the sudden Holmes brother. However, soon he joined them, and they all started to walk away. Lex, however, turned to look above her shoulder and felt the eyes of Mycroft on her.

"So: dim sum" she heard John say, making her focus on the two men she was walking next to.

"Mmm! I can always predict the fortune cookies"

"No way," Lex said.

"Almost can ***turns to John*** You did get shot, though"

"Sorry?" the shorter man lifted an eyebrow.

"In Afghanistan. There was an actual wound"

"Oh, yeah. Shoulder"

"Shoulder! I thought so"

"No, you didn't"

As the two men argued like kids, the woman next to them smiled and watched. A sudden feeling flared up deep into her core as she took in the sweet moment. The sweet moment which was interrupted when Sherlock had a very familiar smirk.

"Why that face?" she found herself asking, somehow suspecting something new and big coming into the picture.

"Moriarty"

"What's Moriarty?"

"I've absolutely no idea"

"Great. Another mystery for us to solve" she commented, earning a smile from the two men as they continued walking.

* * *

Back at the car, the woman turned to Mycroft who was watching the trio walk away. His eyes always focused on the smiling woman by their side.

"Sir, shall we go?" she asked him.

"Interesting, that soldier fellow" the man replied, remembering the conversation they just had. "He could be the making of my brother – or make him worse than ever. Either way, we'd better upgrade their surveillance status. Grade Three Active"

"Sorry, sir. Whose status?"

"Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson"

* * *

The very same night, Lex was lying on her bed. She had just changed to shorts and a sleeveless top. She smiled, one hand behind her head and her eyes closed while replaying the good and funny moments of the day; especially the scenes which took place in the Chinese restaurant barely a few hours ago.

Suddenly, the phone vibrated from the small desk by her right and she opened one eye. The phone vibrated again, forcing her to roll on her stomach and pick up the device. The white light blinded her for a second but then her eyes got used to it.

Opening it, she looked at the screen and a sigh escaped her lips while her head hanged in defeat. Dropping the phone, she took a deep breath and lifted her body out of the bed; knowing one thing…

…She was in big trouble


	10. Chapter 10

At a supermarket not too far away from the residential area of our three heroes, John Watson was standing at one of two self-service checkouts, scanning items from his basket. A short queue had formed behind him, but he kept going, scanning another item.

_"Unexpected item in the bagging area. Please try again" the automated voice said._

On 221B Baker Street though, life was a little more exciting. In the living room of the two men, Sherlock was under attack from a heavily robed figure whose face and head was almost completely shrouded in a variety of scarves. As the attacker slashed at him with a curved sword, Sherlock backed up carefully and ducked this way and that to avoid the blows. The man backed Sherlock up as far as the sofa and took another swing at him.

Ducking under the sword, Sherlock dropped onto the sofa in a sitting position. The attacker lifted his sword above his head with both hands and our hero raised a leg, kicking hard at the man's chest and shoving him backwards. As the man stumbled back across the room, Sherlock got to his feet and took an all-important moment to straighten his jacket before charging across the room towards the man.

* * *

At the same time at the building across from them, or more specifically on the roof of the building; Lex was caught up in a fight of her own. She was dressed in her cargo pants and a sleeveless tight top and was busy deflecting a katana.

The attacker was of Asian origin with the bottom of his face covered behind a tight black mask. His whole outfit was a combination of black tight materials and some pouches with items inside. He attacked, trying to slice her but she kept avoiding. She took steps back but then realized she was getting closer to the edge, so she jumped to the side and rolled, getting behind her attacker. She quickly brought her leg and aimed a good kick on his side, but he blocked her attack with his blade.

Looking at the leg and katana mix and then at each other, he grabbed a smaller blade from one of the pockets and tried to stab her leg, but she pulled it back and did a few backflips to put some distance between them.

* * *

In the supermarket, John held lettuce in a plastic bag and moved it slowly across the scanner in an attempt to get it to read the barcode.

_"Item not scanned. Please try again" the automated voice said._

John straightened up, staring at the device in exasperation. "D'you think you could keep your voice down?"

* * *

In the flat, the attacker had his sword held horizontally in both hands and was pushing Sherlock backwards into the kitchen. With a tight grip on the man's wrists, he fell back onto the kitchen table and the man followed him down, trying to press the edges of the blade into Sherlock's throat.

Grimacing with the effort, he pushes the man's right wrist upwards to keep the blade from cutting him. The point of the sword begun to dig into the table to his right. He lifted his left leg and kneed the man in the side several times and, as this began to weaken the man's grip, Sherlock forced himself upwards again. The sword tip gouged a long slash across the top of the table.

* * *

On the rooftop, Lex delivered a spinning air kick on the man's face and caused blood to come from it. The attacker fell on his side, his katana dropping from his hand. However, he quickly spit the blood from his mouth and stood up; getting into a martial art position.

Lex left out some air, pushing a stay strand away from her face while she got into a similar position. She brought her left hand forward, palm open and moved the fingers as an indication for the man to attack. He fell into her taunt and started to attack her by a combination of well-aimed and trained kicks and punches which she was forced to block while also retreat slightly back.

* * *

In the supermarket, John had, at last, got everything scanned and had inserted his credit or debit card into the chip-and-PIN machine. He typed in his PIN and waited.

_"Card not authorized. Please use an alternative method of payment" the voice said._

"Yes, all right! I've got it!"

_"Card not authorized. Please use an alternative method of payment"_

The man in the queue behind him had already picked up his basket in expectation of getting to the scanner soon. John reached towards his back pocket but realized that he had no other way of paying.

"Got nothing. ***points at the machine*** Right, keep it. Keep that"

As the man behind him looked on in surprise, John angrily walked away, abandoning his shopping and quite possibly his card as well.

* * *

In the flat, Sherlock was on his feet again and the fight had moved back into the living room. The attacker took another swing at Sherlock who ducked underneath the sword and then quickly straightened up, pointing directly over the man's shoulder.

"Look!"

The man had already half-turned in that direction with the swing of his sword and was also momentarily distracted by their reflections in the mirror over the fireplace behind him. Sherlock took advantage and swung a powerful uppercut to the man's chin, and the man dropped unconscious into Sherlock's armchair.

He straightened up and immediately checked his reflection in the mirror, straightening his jacket and cuffs and then dusting himself down. He looked down at the man with disdain, as if indignant that he messed his suit up.

* * *

On the rooftop, the battle was ongoing but Lex had already formed a plan. She had managed to turn the tide, now forcing the masked man back with her martial art techniques which he struggled to block. He grabbed two small blades from his pouches and aimed for her torso. She ducked above his one hand, one of the blades grazing her side but barely affected her as she landed headfirst. Using her hands, she used her momentum to save herself and flip in front of the katana.

The man had charged, hoping to hit her while her back was turned but she used the leg to flip the weapon up into the air before grabbing the handle and turning sharply. The sharp tip of the blade passed through the other side of the man, blood drops falling to the roof.

A sigh escaped her lips as the man coughed some blood on her shoulder before falling dead against her body. She lowered him down and pulled the weapon out, observing the mess that had been created.

She grabbed her phone and quickly sent a text before placing it into her pocket. Her free hand went to her side when she felt the familiar sting and noticed the line of blood that had formed along with the now exposed skin.

"Great" she commented.

* * *

Sometime later, she was back into her apartment and she had thrown the bloody and destroyed top to a wooden small basket. Some other clothes in a similar state were already there and she made a mental note to get rid of them.

She was in a sports bra and her cargo pants, sitting on the dark brown couch her small living room had. The wooden coffee table in front of her had a mug of warm Earl Gray and next to it was a bottle of Whiskey. She was busy cleaning the new wound when she heard John's voice and footsteps that only belonged to him. He was making her way to her apartment and her brown eyes doubled in size.

* * *

John had entered the house frustrated and annoyed by the luck he had with the supermarket machine. He was in the apartment, looking around for the card Sherlock said he had; not liking the lazy and drawn back attitude.

He hadn't moved from the armchair for a few hours, just sitting them and reading a book with no care in the world or any sings that he would move any time soon.

"I can't find it, Sherlock. I will go and ask Lex" he said and passed a hand through his cut short hair before making his way out of the apartment.

He climbed the stairs two at a time before stopping n front of the door with the sign B1 outside. He knocked and waited for the woman to open up for him, feeling rude to just barge in.

"Enter!" she heard her voice and lifted an eyebrow but did as he was told.

His eyes quickly took a look at the apartment he had seen only thrice since most of the times Lex spent time on theirs. Speaking of her, she was on the couch and wrapped with a maroon blanket while drinking a cup of tea.

"Sorry to disturb Lex"

"No worries John," she said with a smile. "Uhm…didn't you go for groceries?"

"Yeah well, the machine was messing with me. Took me an eternity to scan stuff and now doesn't accept my card. I asked Sherlock but only gods know where it is so…can I borrow yours?"

The woman fought the need to chuckle at the unfortunate situation her friend had ended up with. However, she kept her face neutral and offered a kind smile. "Sure, it's on the desk at your right"

The man turned and looked at the wooden desk with a chair where her laptop was placed. Next to it, a small brown wallet. He picked it up, opened it and grabbed her card but not before noticing the pile of clothing in the wooden basket. Lex almost stopped breathing when she followed his gaze, her mask falling and showing the worry she was feeling. Thankfully, the blood or any other stains were not visible but only the dirt and the way they were thrown there.

"Uhm…want me to get you some washing powder?" the man asked, leaving her wallet down and with her card at hand.

She quickly put the mask on. "Sure, if you don't mind. And I can make you some tea for when you come back"

"Oh please yes" the man replied and left the apartment.

She waited until she heard the sound of the down door opening. Once she did, she left a heavy sigh and collapsed back on the couch, the blanket falling from her exposed body. She muttered some words and closed her eyes, allowing her heart to slow down.

* * *

Later, John staggered up the stairs carrying several bags of shopping. "Don't worry about me. I can manage" he replied with sarcasm when he felt the weight being lifted.

"Let me help you, soldier," Lex said and took some bags before taking them into the apartment.

"See! Now, _that _is how flatmates behave" John said and looked at Sherlock.

He was sitting at the dining table with his hands folded in front of his mouth as he looked at a laptop screen, barely glanced across to John, who sighed heavily and carried the rest of the bags into the kitchen.

He dumped them on the table and was about to help Lex in placing them to their proper place when he realized something and turned. He walked to the living room, his eyes on the item Sherlock was using. "Is that my computer?"

"Of course" Sherlock replied while typing.

"What?!"

Lex left out a sigh when she heard the yelling and shook her head but couldn't help and smile at the usual mood that existed in the house.

"Mine was in the bedroom"

"What, and you couldn't be bothered to get up?" Sherlock doesn't reply. "It's password-protected!"

"In a manner of speaking. Took me less than a minute to guess yours. ***glances up at John*** Not exactly Fort Knox"

"Right, thank you" John replied annoyed and walked over to the man.

He slammed the lid down and his flatmate pulled his fingers out of the way just in time. John took the laptop across the room and put it down on the floor beside his armchair as he sat down. Sherlock clapped his hands in the prayer position in front of his mouth as he propped his elbows on the table and looked thoughtful. Lex joined with a mug of black coffee. She sat on the couch and propped her legs on the coffee table before taking a sip of the bitter beverage.

John picked up a small pile of letters from the table beside his chair and frowned. "Oh," he exclaimed as he flicked through the letters, at least one of which appeared to be a red bill which needed urgent paying. He shook his head in resignation. "Need to get a job"

"Oh, dull" Sherlock commented and Lex facepalmed.

John put the letters back onto the table and looked across at his two friends for a moment, but then glanced at the bills again and awkwardly sat forward. "Listen, um ... if any of you'd be able to lend me some ..." Lex leaned forward to listen properly since he talked in a lowered voice, but the man stopped when he realized that Sherlock was in his word. "Sherlock, are you listening?"

"I need to go to the bank," the man said as he stood up and headed for the stairs.

The duo looked at each other before standing up as well, Lex leaving her half-full mug on the coffee table and rushing after Sherlock who was wearing his coat. John followed right after, and the trio quickly found themselves stopping a taxi.

* * *

_TOWER 42, OLD BROAD STREET. _

Sherlock led John and Lex through revolving glass doors which led into _Shad Sanderson Bank._ John stared at the impressive foyer while Lex kept her eyes on the front but stole glances at Sherlock, wondering why they were there, to begin with.

"Yes, when you said we were going to the bank ..." John started as they all got onto an escalator.

Lex and Sherlock stood side by side while the army doctor was right behind. The latter was observing everything around him, especially the security systems which had to have cards swiped across electronic readers to open glass barrier gates.

The trio reached the top of the escalator, Sherlock being the first to walk over to the reception desk and address one of the receptionists. "Sherlock Holmes"

John and Lex exchanged looks for a moment unsure but then were surprised when they were all led to Sebastian Wilke's office. Whatever they had come to do in the bank, it was not something normal people would do; something that didn't fully shock them since they had been with Sherlock for some time now. They entered and came face to face with the said businessman, a smile on his lips once he spotted the sociopath.

"Sherlock Holmes"

"Sebastian"

They watched as the two men clasped hands, not surprised by Sherlock calling the man by his first name. After all, there wasn't a single person on the planet that Sherlock would address with their last name or their full name.

John even joked once that he would dare to call the queen by first name basis and they even made a bet at what reaction and punishment would follow.

"Howdy, buddy. How long's it been? Eight years since I last clapped eyes on you?"

Sherlock looked back at him with only marginally disguised dislike. Sebastian turned to look at Lex and John. "These are my friends, John Watson and Alex Stronghold"

"Friends?"

"Colleagues" John corrected him.

"_Right,_" Sebastian said and shook hands with John while his eyes were on Lex. He then walked to her and she extended his hand for a shake, but he took it and brought the back of her palm on his lips. "Always charmed my lady"

John blinked in shock and Sherlock glared daggers at the back of the man.

"Pleasure is all mine," Lex said simply, flashing a small smile and pushing back her now loose hair out of her face.

Once the man released her, he turned and walked towards his desk. The moment his back was turned on her, her smile dropped, and her eyes grew cold and narrow at his form. She disliked the man immediately for his way of treating Sherlock and for the way he looked at her. She wasn't the only one though since Sherlock did feel that for years and John quickly reached their level of dislike.

"Well, grab a pew. D'you need anything? Coffee, water?" he asked as he leaned against his desk with his back and his hands supporting him.

"No" John replied while Sherlock and Lex shook their heads.

"No?" ***To his secretary*** We're all sorted here, thanks"

As the secretary left the room, Sebastian sat down at his desk and our heroes sat opposite of him with John and Lex sharing a chair while Sherlock had taken one all for himself.

"So, you're doing well. You've been abroad a lot" Sherlock started a small talk.

"Well, some"

"Flying around the world twice in a month?"

John frowned in confusion and looked at Lex who was equally lost, but Sebastian just laughed and pointed at Sherlock.

"Right. You're doing that thing" Sebastian said and looked at the duo sharing the chair. "We were at uni together. This guy here had a trick he used to do"

"It's not a trick," he said quietly.

"He could look at you and tell you your whole life story"

"Yes, I've seen him do it," John said, and Lex nodded.

"And it is a very impressive skill based on observations"

Sebastian laughed at her and continued. "Put the wind-up everybody. We hated him" At his words, Sherlock turned his head away and looked down, his face momentarily filling with pain. Lex noticed and her right hand turned into a fist, feeling deep anger within her while quickly realizing what kind of relationship the duo had back then. "You'd come down to breakfast in the Formal Hall and this freak would know you'd been shagging the previous night"

"I simply observed" Sherlock corrected in a low tone.

"Well, I do not see any reason for you to call him a freak Mr Wilke. If he did observe, most likely you didn't hide some things that well. I could also say when some of my classmates would …' Shag' when they didn't make an effort to cover it" Lex defended, keeping her tone calm while her hand stayed into a fist to help contain her temper.

John looked at Lex confused at her sudden behaviour while Sherlock was momentarily shocked but smiled faintly at how she took his side.

Sebastian wasn't pleased though and he lifted an eyebrow while looking at her. "For a colleague, you certainly defend him a lot"

"I simply feel the need to show a different perspective of your story. Nothing to be charged with"

He smirked in amusement and leaned back on his chair. "I will prove it to you. ***turns to Sherlock*** Go on, enlighten us. Two trips a month, flying around the world – you're quite right. How could you tell? ***Sherlock opened his mouth, but Sebastian continued speaking*** You're gonna tell me there was, um, a stain on my tie from some special kind of ketchup you can only buy in Manhattan" he added smugly while John smiled.

"No, I ..."

"Maybe it was the mud on my shoes!"

"I was just chatting with your secretary outside. She told me"

John frowned round at him, confused by such an 'ordinary' explanation while Lex stole glances at Sherlock, reading the discomfort on his face. Sebastian laughed humorlessly and Sherlock smiled back at him with an equal lack of humour.

The businessman then clapped his hands together, then becomes more serious. "I'm glad you could make it over. We've had a break-in" With those words, he stood up and lead them out of his office, across the trading floor and towards a different. "Sir William's office – the bank's former Chairman. The room's been left here like a sort of memorial. Someone broke in late last night"

"What did they steal?" John asked.

"Nothing. Just left a little message"

He held his security card against the reader by the door to unlock it. Inside, hanging on the plain white wall behind the large desk was a framed painted portrait of a man in a suit. On the wall to the left of the portrait, someone had sprayed what looks like a graffiti 'tag' in yellow paint. The tag looked vaguely like a number 8 but with the top of the number left open, and above it is an almost horizontal straight line. Across the eyes of the portrait itself, another almost horizontal straight line had been sprayed.

Sebastian led the way towards the desk and then stepped aside to allow Sherlock a clear view of the wall. John moved to stand on the other side of Sebastian, who looked at Sherlock expectantly while the detective stares in fixed concentration at the graffiti.

Lex stayed next to John, feeling Sebastian's eyes on her from times to times but made no acknowledgement of that. Instead, she focused on Sherlock.


	11. Chapter 11

Once Sebastian had shown the vandalism and perhaps hidden message that was left, he led them back in his office and was showing them the security footage of the office from the previous night.

"Sixty seconds apart," he said and flicked back and forth between the still photograph taken at 23:34:01 which showed the paint on the wall and on the portrait, and a minute earlier – 23:33:01 when the wall and portrait were still clean. "So, someone came up here in the middle of the night, splashed paint around, then left within a minute"

"How many ways into that office?" Sherlock asked.

"Well, that's where this gets really interesting"

* * *

He led them out again and this time took them to the reception area, only to show them a screen on a computer which had a layout of the trading floor and its surrounding offices. Each indicated door had a light against it showing its security status.

"Every door that opens in this bank, it gets logged right here. Every walk-in cupboard, every toilet" he explained.

"That door didn't open last night"

"There's a hole in our security. Find it and we'll pay you – five figures" he reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and took out a cheque. "This is an advance. Tell me how he got in, there's a bigger one on its way"

"I don't need an incentive, Sebastian" Sherlock said and walked away.

John and Lex exchanged looks before she faintly motions for the army doctor to make a move. Then, she followed after the sociopath to make sure that nothing would happen. After all, he might not show it, but she could see he was annoyed by the situation and how he had been offended by this Sebastian.

He might have tried to play it tough and not caring but she could see right through him. However, the problem was that she couldn't approach the subject or say anything since he would just dismiss it and pretend that nothing was going on.

So, she stayed quiet and just looked at him as he was in Sir William's office and was taking pictures of the graffiti. Then, she stayed quiet and watched him work. He moved from place to place, almost dancing as he tried to take in everything, test each scenario and possibility, make sure to leave nothing uncovered.

She leaned on the railing and watched, a smile on her face while her eyes showed nothing but admiration. She loved to see him work, getting glimpses of how his superior mind worked in ways so different from other people; how he took advantage to it and brought the idea of deduction to a whole new level.

He finished and closed his eyes for a moment, letting his mind process all the information. He erased senators, plans and ideas; connected dots and images and faces and names. Once done, he opened his eyes and looked at his audience.

He could feel her eyes all the time he was thinking and doing his thing but never bothered, instead, he found it slightly strange and yet welcoming. He locked eyes with her, seeing the admiration in those brown hues of hers. She was the only one along with John and his landlady to look at him like that like he wasn't someone crazy or strange or a freak.

His mind played the scene in the office and how she had defended him even though she didn't have to. She had done t same with Sergeant Donovan and Sherlock couldn't exactly pinpoint why.

He suspected and deducted that it was her nature, but he had managed to get glimpses of a much colder and harsher side which made him doubt. He had the hypothesis that she saw hi friend, something strange and yet he didn't bother to question or correct it.

He noticed her smile and he walked towards her, catching a glimpse of John heading their way. The corner of his lips lifted so slightly and for that single second before putting his normal face.

She kept her smile and didn't question, as if she knew that he would eventually fill them in or she would just roll with him like last time. It was rare to see someone doing that, people always wanting some schedule and plan and know what is going on; like John. Even though he tried his hardest to follow his league and didn't complain much about it.

She though just followed, never questioning; showing full trust. He wondered why, he tried to find out, but he failed. There was something she was good at, hiding some information; putting a mask he couldn't take off but that only made him more determined to solve her.

John joined them and Sherlock led them back towards the escalators. He had what he needed from the Bank, now there were other things to unfold and see.

"Two trips around the world this month. You didn't ask his secretary; you said that just to irritate him" John pointed out, earning a smile from the man who stayed silent.

"How did you know?" Lex asked, always fascinated to listen to his way of thinking.

"Did you see his watch?"

She lifted an eyebrow and John looked confused. "His watch?"

"The time was right, but the date was wrong. Said two days ago. Crossed the dateline twice but he didn't alter it"

"Within a month? How'd you get that part?"

"New Breitling."

John stayed confused but Lex smiled in pride. "That's right. It's the February model"

He gave a nod and John looked at her. "How did you know that?"

"Was all over the internet with pre-ordering and stuff" she shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay. So d'you think we should sniff around here for a bit longer?" turns to Sherlock.

"Got everything I need to know already, thanks"

"Hmm?"

"That graffiti was a message for someone at the bank working on the trading floors. We find the intended recipient and ..."

He deliberately trailed off, allowing John to finish the sentence.

"... they'll lead us to the person who sent it"

"Obvious"

"Well, there's three hundred people up there. Who was it meant for?" Lex asked.

"Pillars"

"What?" John exclaimed.

"Pillars and the screens. Very few places you can see that graffiti from. That narrows the field considerably. And of course, the message was left at eleven thirty-four last night. That tells us a lot"

She gave a nod, realizing what small dance and hide-and-seek game were all meant for before. "Once again, fascinating"

He smiled faintly. "Traders come to work at all hours. Some trade with Hong Kong in the middle of the night. That message was intended for someone who came in at midnight" he held up the name card to show them. "Not many Van Coons in the phonebook"

* * *

They grabbed a Taxi and let Sherlock do his thing, as per usual. Didn't take them long to arrive at some blocks of flats close to the centre of London. Lex looked around carefully, John was normal and Sherlock eager to solve this job.

He pressed the door buzzer marked '_Van Coon'_. Releasing it, he looked into the security camera above the buzzers, waits a couple of seconds, then pressed the buzzer again. There's no response"

"So what do we do now? Sit here and wait for him to come back?" John asked.

The man didn't reply instantly, instead, he looked at the number of buzzers on the wall and stepped back to look up the front of the building, presumably calculating the layout of the flats inside. He came back to the wall and looks at the duo triumphantly. "Just moved in"

"Honey, you will have to explain that," Lex said, lifting an eyebrow.

Sometimes she could catch up with his thinking but sometimes he could literally find the needle in the haystack.

"The floor above. New label" then pressed another buzzer which had a handwritten label saying, '_Wintle'_.

"Could have just replaced it" John suggested.

"No-one ever does that"

"_Hello_?" a female voice came from the intercom.

Sherlock turned to the camera and smiled. "Hi! Um, I live in the flat just below you. I-I don't think we've met" He grinned prettily into the camera.

_"No, well, uh, I've just moved in"_

He turned to throw a brief 'told you so' glance at John, then turned back to the camera all while Lex tries to hold her smile and act 'normal'.

"Actually, I've just locked my keys in my flat" he grimaced and bit his lip plaintively.

_"D'you want me to buzz you in?"_

"Yeah. And can I use your balcony?"

"What?

* * *

Not long afterwards, Sherlock had flirted his way into Ms Wintle's flat and was standing on her balcony. He looked over the side to the ground several floors below. Luckily for him, he was on the top floor where the flats had balconies which only run halfway across the front of the flat, whereas the floor below had full-width balconies.

He climbed over the side of Ms Wintle's balcony and dropped down onto the one outside Van Coon's flat. Taking another look over the edge, he turned and reached for the handle of the door and found that it was unlocked. He went inside and walked across the very elegantly decorated living room.

This was clearly the apartment of a wealthy person, with white leather furniture, shiny black tables and minimal clutter. He looked at everything as he went through the room and glanced at a pile of books on a table. He walked through the kitchen, looking at the work surface before opening the fridge to reveal that it's full of nothing other than bottles of champagne. The front door to the flat buzzed.

"Sherlock" John's voice was heard from the other side of the door while Sherlock moved into the hall. "Sherlock, are you okay?" Suddenly Lex landed on the balcony of the apartment the very same way but unlike Sherlock, she made no sound. She then walked inside, taking a good look at the expensive and lavishing living room before hearing John's voice. "Yeah, any time you feel like letting me in"

She chuckled and walked towards the door, unlocking and then opening it. John stood there, shocked and then turned behind him where she had been standing maybe two minutes ago. He then looked at her and blinked.

"I knew he wouldn't open us, so I followed his lead" she replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world and let him in.

"Right," he exclaimed and walked in, deciding not to question how she was able to do that or her idea of thinking. Sherlock managed to do it and she was still a pretty well-wrapped mystery to the army doctor despite the time they had spent knowing each other due to sharing the same building. "Sherlock?"

Lex heard the sound of something falling against the door and walked towards the hall, heading for the bedroom door where the sound originated. John followed and they spotted him standing at the door frame.

Coming closer, they took in the scene that was in front of them. A man in a suit and overcoat was lying on his back on the bed, dead. There was a pistol on the floor, and the man had a small bullet hole in his right temple.

"I will call the detective," the woman in the group said with a sigh and grabbed her phone from one of the pockets of her cargo pants.


	12. Chapter 12

Later, the police had been called and a photographer was taking pictures of Van Coon's body lying on the bed. A forensics officer was dusting for fingerprints on the nearby mirror, and distant voices suggested that other forensics officers were elsewhere in the flat.

Sherlock had taken off his coat and was in the bedroom putting on a pair of latex gloves. John and Lex stood beside him.

"D'you think he'd lost a lot of money? I mean, suicide is pretty common among City boys" he asked.

Sherlock shook his head. "We don't know that it was suicide"

"Come on. The door was locked from the inside; you had to climb down the balcony"

"Which is the point John," Lex said, making him turn to her who was looking around but stood firm. "If we managed to enter through the balcony, someone else could have done the same. There are many ways to kill somebody, the balcony most convenient if you have the skills"

The two men looked at each other, impressed by her knowledge which sounded slightly more coming from experience than general knowledge. They, however, stayed silent and Sherlock continued his inspection.

He had squatted down by a suitcase on the floor near the bed, had opened the lid and was looking at the contents. "Been away three days, judging by the laundry" he saw that there's a deep indentation in the clothing inside the case, then straightened up and looked at the duo. "Look at the case. There was something tightly packed inside it"

"Thanks. I'll take your word for it" John said.

"Problem?"

"Yeah, I'm not desperate to root around some bloke's dirty underwear"

Lex shook her head and bent one knee to be by Sherlock's height. He pointed out what he had seen and wh3 leaned closer, taking a look. Indeed, it seemed that something had been placed there or better say, had been hidden. Most likely taken away in a hurry since no one fixed the indentation.

Sherlock left as she stood up and watched him walk to the foot of the bed. "Those symbols at the bank – the graffiti. Why were they put there?"

"What, some sort of code?"

"Obviously" Having looked closely at Van Coon's legs, he moved up and carefully opened the man's jacket to look at his inside pockets. "Why were they painted? If you want to communicate, why not use e-mail?"

"Well, maybe he wasn't answering"

"Oh good. You follow"

"No"

Sherlock threw him a look and then turned to Lex. "He was avoiding answering"

He gave a nod at her and then moved on to examine Van Coon's hands. "What kind of message would everyone try to avoid?" John frowned in confusion.

"What about this morning – those letters you were looking at?"

"Bills" the short man replied.

"Check his mouth" Lex pointed out. Sherlock gave a nod and gently praised open Van Coon's mouth, only to pull out a small black origami flower from inside. "He was being threatened" she concluded as she looked at the origami flower.

"Bag this up, will you ..." a man's voice was heard from outside the bedroom.

John looked closely at the paper flower as Sherlock lifted an evidence bag to put the flower into it "Not by the gas board"

" ... and see if you can get prints off this glass," the same voice said and the owner of it walked into the room.

He was a plain-clothed police officer who looked too young in Lex's mind. He walked into the bedroom and Sherlock quickly walked towards him in return.

"Ah, Sergeant. We haven't met" he offered his hand to shake but the young man put his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, I know who you are, and I'd prefer it if you didn't tamper with any of the evidence"

Lowering his hand, Sherlock gave the evidence bag to the officer and turned his best stroppy look on him. "We've phoned Lestrade. Is he on his way?"

"He's busy. I'm in charge. And it's not Sergeant; it's Detective Inspector Dimmock"

Sherlock looked at him in surprise, then turned and shared his surprised look with John and Lex.

Dimmock walked out of the room and the trio followed him into the living room where he handed the bag to one of the forensics team. "We're obviously looking at a suicide"

John shrugged his shoulders. "That does seem the only explanation of all the facts"

Lex held the need to facepalm and left out a sigh in defeat.

She looked at Sherlock who was in a similar situation but didn't show anything on his well-structured face. Instead, he took off the latex gloves and turned back to the John. "Wrong. It's one possible explanation of some of the facts" he then looked at Dimmock. "You've got a solution that you like, but you're choosing to ignore anything you see that doesn't comply with it"

The young man looked back, challenging him with his eyes. "Like?"

"The wound was on the right side of his head"

"And?"

"Van Coon was left-handed" Lex pointed out and Sherlock gave a nod.

Then, the man proceeded to go into an elaborate mime as he demonstrated his point, pretending to try and point a gun to his right temple with his left hand. "Requires quite a bit of contortion"

"Left-handed?"

"Oh, I'm amazed you didn't notice. All you have to do is look around this flat" he replied with sarcasm and got to work, first pointing at the table beside the sofa. " Coffee table on the left-hand side; coffee mug handle pointing to the left. Power sockets: habitually used the ones on the left ...Pen and paper on the left-hand side of the phone because he picked it up with his right and took down messages with his left. D'you want me to go on?"

"No, I think you've covered it," John said tiredly while Lex smirked and kept watching.

"Oh, I might as well; I'm almost at the bottom of the list," Sherlock told him, earning a faint chuckle from the female of the group. "There's a knife on the breadboard with butter on the right side of the blade because he used it with his left ***turns to Dimmock*** It's highly unlikely that a left-handed man would shoot himself in the right side of his head…Conclusion: someone broke in here and murdered him. Only explanation of all the facts"

The Detective was shocked. "But the gun: why ..."

"He was waiting for the killer. He'd been threatened" Lex interrupted him, putting the pieces together.

Sherlock left them and walked away, only to start putting on his scarf, coat and gloves. The Detective was confused and looked at the duo for answers.

"Today at the bank. Sort of a warning" John informed him but also sort of concluded himself.

"He fired a shot when his attacker came in" Sherlock added.

"And the bullet?"

"Went through the open window"

"Oh, come on! What are the chances of that?!"

Lex held the need to laugh at the frustration of the young detective. It was obvious that he had little experience on the field and was brand new on how Sherlock worked. When he said something, it was true even though it could sound like the most unlikely thing in the world.

"Wait until you get the ballistics report. The bullet in his brain wasn't fired from his gun. I guarantee it" the genius man told him.

"But if his door was locked from the inside, how did the killer get in?"

SHERLOCK dramatically slammed his hand into his glove. "Good! You're finally asking the right questions"

He then turned and flounced out. Lex gave a salute to the young Detective and followed suit while John stayed behind. He pointed apologetically towards the departing drama queen before following.

* * *

In one very expensive restaurant, none other than Sebastian was having lunch with some clients and work colleagues. He was laughing, entailing a story; unaware of what was about to happen.

"... and he's left trying to sort of cut his hair with a fork, which of course can never be done!"

Suddenly, Sherlock, Lex and John walked over to his table. The High functional Sociopath being first and ready to show what he had found. "It was a threat. That's what the graffiti meant"

"I'm kind of in a meeting. Can you make an appointment with my secretary?" Sebastian said, glancing awkwardly at his guests who were listening quietly.

"I don't think this can wait. Sorry, Sebastian. One of your traders – someone who worked in your office – was killed"

"What?"

"Van Coon"

"The police are at his flat" Lex added right after John, shocking everyone but mostly him.

"Killed?"

Sherlock smirked faintly, enjoying the reaction. "Sorry to interfere with everyone's digestion. Still wanna make an appointment? Would, maybe, nine o'clock at Scotland Yard suit?"

Sebastian put down his glass of water and nervously ran his finger inside his shirt collar.

* * *

Since the details could not be discussed publicly, they all decided to go to the most isolated place at that moment, which was none other than the toilets. Thankfully, for Lex, the restaurant had only common ones and not classified by gender; not that she would let something like that stop her.

She leaned on the wall next to the door, one leg supporting her weight and hands in front of her chest. Sherlock and John were not too far away while Sebastian was busy washing his hands while bringing out the skeletons from his closet.

"Harrow; Oxford. Very bright guy. Worked in Asia for a while, so ..."

"…you gave him the Hong Kong accounts" John continued for him, at last catching up with everyone.

Sebastian gave a node and started to dry his hands on a towel. "Lost five mill in a single morning; made it all back a week later. Nerves of steel, Eddie had"

"Who'd wanna kill him?"

"We all make enemies"

Lex scoffed. "You don't all end up with a bullet through your temple"

Suddenly, Sebastian's phone beeped a text alert. "Not usually. Scuse me" He got out his phone and looked at the message. "It's my Chairman. The police have been on to him. Apparently, they're telling him it was a suicide"

"Of course they did" she muttered, not surprised that the detective had decided to play it solo.

Honestly, he was no better than Donovan. She wondered if there was anyone else except Lestrade that swallowed their ego and worked for the common good. So far, her answer to that was no.

"Well, they've got it wrong, Sebastian. He was murdered" Sherlock said.

"Well, I'm afraid they don't see it like that"

"Seb"

"... and neither does my boss. I hired you to do a job. Don't get side-tracked"

He walked away and Lex glared daggers at him until he had left the rooms. She then kicked herself off the wall and walked towards the boys. She was pissed, that was certain and his tone with Sherlock was not helping the situation either.

"I thought bankers were all supposed to be heartless bastards(!)" John commented, also getting tired of everything.

* * *

John smiled as he entered the block of flats. He had just returned from an interview about a job at the surgery and the woman who he had met was very nice. He found himself smiling more at the small conversation they had which was not fully around his CV and qualification.

"John!" someone called him when he was about to close to the door and caused him to stop. He turned around and was surprised to see Lex jogging towards him.

She reached him in record time and pulled the earphones out. "Thank you" she said as she walked in and killed the music.

"Its nothing" the man said, and she noticed his silly smile.

"Guess that interview went better than expected?" she teased and smirked in victory once she spotted the faint blush on his cheeks.

She chuckled and walked up the stairs, him following suit. She went to her flat to change while John entered the flat, he shared with Sherlock. He came to a stop once he noticed the newest additions.

Sherlock had printed out the photographs of the graffiti near and across Sir William's portrait and had stuck them around the mirror above the fireplace. He was sitting on one of the dining chairs with his back to the dining table. He had his fingers steepled under his chin and was staring at the photos while various symbols in different languages flash in front of his mind's eye.

"I said, 'Could you pass me a pen?'" Sherlock said while keeping his back turned on the man.

John looked around the living room as if expecting that Sherlock was talking to someone else. "What? When?"

"'Bout an hour ago"

He left out a sigh and picked up the pen from the table. "Didn't notice I'd gone out, then" he then tossed the pen towards his direction without even looking. The sociopath lifted his left hand and caught it without looking away from the photographs. John joined his side. "Yeah, I went to see about a job at that surgery"

"How was it?"

"It's great. She's great"

"Who?"

"The job"

"She?"

"... It"

Sherlock looks at him suspiciously for a moment but then focused on the matter on hand. The door to their apartment was opened and then closed as Lex, dressed in her normal attire, made their way towards the two men. "Just in time. You two, here, have a look"

She lifted an eyebrow and watched along with John, walking over to the table and looking at the web page on the open computer. The lead article on the 'Online News' page is headlined, "Ghostly killer leaves a mystery for police." Next to it is a photograph of the bald man.

Lex read the article out loud. "An intruder who can walk through walls murdered a man in his London apartment last night. Brian Lukis, 41, a freelance journalist from Earl's Court was found shot in his fourth floor flat but all his doors and windows were locked and there were no apparent signs of a break in. A police spokesman said they are still uncertain how the assailant broke in..."

John looked at Sherlock. "The 'intruder who can walk through walls.'"

"Happened last night. Journalist shot dead in his flat; doors locked; windows bolted from the inside – exactly the same as Van Coon" he explained.

The short man quickly straightened up and looked at his flat mate. "God. You think ..."

"He's killed another one"


	13. Chapter 13

After the latest news, Sherlock had that smug smirk on his face and wasted no time to go to Scotland Yard. That's right, he almost marched into Inspector's Dimmock office and was currently standing at the side of the man's desk while typing onto a laptop.

The young inspector sat on his chair; his hands folded in front of his chest as he waited. From his face, it was clear as day that he was not pleased with the situation but waited, to see what Sherlock was talking about.

John and Lex stood further away, giving some private space but also because it was Sherlock's moment. They had simply tagged alone as per usual and in a way, to make sure, that he wouldn't end up doing something extremely bad.

"Brian Lukis, freelance journalist. Murdered in his flat ..." Sherlock started and then turned the laptop around, showing Dimmock the web page which they were looking at earlier... doors locked from the inside"

"You've gotta admit, it's similar," John said, and Lex gave a nod with her head in agreement.

Dimmock scowled at the computer. "Both men killed by someone who can ... " he hesitated momentarily as if unable to believe what he's about to say, but persevered onwards "... walk through solid walls"

Lex felt the need to facepalm. The man obviously didn't pass through solid walls, not hat was impossible. He was simply good at silent killing from the inside, something not entirely new just rare.

Yet, she stayed quiet and observed how slowly the inspector was losing his previous 'high ground'

"Inspector, do you seriously believe that Eddie Van Coon was just another City suicide?" the man continued. Dimmock squirmed not meeting his eyes. This caused the sociopath to look up, exasperated, and sigh pointedly. "You have seen the ballistics report, I suppose?"

"Mmm," he nodded.

"And the shot that killed him: was it fired from his own gun?"

He was reluctant for a moment. "No"

Lex smirked and she didn't fail to notice Sherlock's lip corner lift slightly as well. He was obviously enjoying proving others wrong, especially those who had questioned him. Now, he was doing exactly that, and no one dared or wanted to spoil it for him.

"No. So this investigation might move a bit quicker if you were to take my word as gospel" Dimmock looked back at him silently. Sherlock leaned forward over the desk and spoke quietly but intensely into his face. "I've just handed you a murder enquiry" Louder, nodding towards the picture of Lukis on the computer "Five minutes in his flat"

* * *

"You enjoyed every single moment of it," Lex said with a smirk as they walked towards Luki's flat.

"It was a good reminder of how low his IQ was" Sherlock replied as he ducked under the police tape, keeping his voice low enough for her to hear.

She chuckled and followed soon, Dimmock and John not too far behind. "Not lower than Andersons'"

They climbed the stairs and he didn't hide his smirk of amusement that appeared on his well-structured face. "Doubt anyone can fit in that category"

She smiled and she slowed down her step, allowing him to do his thing and take everything in; without her being in the middle of distracting him.

Looking around at everything as he went, he walked into the living room. There's an open empty suitcase on the floor. Nearby on the carpet was a black origami flower, similar to the one that Sherlock pulled from Van Coon's mouth.

There were books everywhere on the desk and on bookshelves and scattered about on the floor. Several open newspapers were also lying on the floor. He walked over to the kitchen area and looked through the window at the nearby rooftops of lower buildings. Pushing back the net curtain for a better look, he smirked.

Lex stood in the middle of the room, Dimmock and John now close behind her. They all watched Sherlock who turned to them with a smirk. The men were confused at his happy mood but not the woman.

"Four floors up. That's why they think they're safe. Put a chain across the door and bolt it shut; think they're impregnable"

"But they are not," she said, and he gave a nod as he stood close to her. "They don't reckon that there's another way in"

He turned back towards the stairs and saw a skylight above the landing.

"I don't understand" Dimmock voiced.

Sherlock went out to the landing. "You're dealing with a killer who can climb" he stated as if it was obvious for others who didn't share his intelligence or way of thinking.

They all watched him as he hopped on a sturdy object in order to get closer to the skylight which was high up on the angled roof.

"What are you doing?"

"He clings to the walls like an insect" Unhooks the latch and pushed the window upwards. "That's how he got in"

"What?!"

"Climbed up the side of the walls, ran along the roof, dropped in through this skylight"

"You're not serious! Like Spiderman? (!)"

Lex lifted an eyebrow and turned her attention to the detective. _Spiderman? Are you serious now? How did you even reach the rank of the inspector? _She voiced in her mind. No need to be a fictional character to do such stunts.

All you needed was the right equipment and some basic skills. Yet, she seemed to be the only one aware of that. Well, her and most likely Sherlock. It was obvious that the inspector was a full trilogy behind.

John stayed quiet and made her wonder what he believed. From his face and from what he had experienced, he didn't seem as shocked or he had gotten better at putting a poker face. She wasn't sure.

Sherlock climbed down and she left out a sigh. "He scaled six floors of a Docklands apartment building, jumped the balcony to kill Van Coon. Doubt, this was much of a challenge" she added.

Dimmock simply laughed in disbelief and watched the duo as if they were speaking some other language other than English. "Oh, ho-hold on!"

"And of course that's how he got into the bank. He ran along the window ledge and onto the terrace" Sherlock added and started to look around again. "We have to find out what connects these two men"

His eyes fell on the pile of books scattered up the side of the staircase. Jumping down a few stairs he picked up one particular book which had fallen open at its front page which showed that it had been borrowed from West Kensington Library. Slamming the book shut, he took it with him as he headed off down the stairs.

* * *

Once again, they were on the move, following the next trail in this real-life Cluedo game; they found themselves in the library. It only took them a small taxi journey due to the close proximately of the two buildings and now they were gaining ground against the killer.

"There it is," Lex said as he found the isle where the book came from.

She found it slightly amusing how that said book was open and was actually borrowed from a nearby library. It was as if the universe itself wanted to help them or perhaps their dead guy number 2 was smarter than he looked.

After all, their first case with the poisoned woman in pink was on a similar path. She was smart and had left them clues even though they were only able to be picked up by someone like Sherlock.

"Date stamped on the book is the same day that he died" Sherlock informed him and started to check.

He checked the reference number stuck to the bottom of the book's spine, only to then go to the correct place along the shelves and started pulling out books and examining them. Lex helped him but it was John who seemed to be on Lady's Luck good graces.

Because behind the very book he took, found something familiar. "Sherlock, Lex"

They both turned and saw John starring in the gap left by the book he removed. Sherlock was the first to step over to him and almost kissed John's ear before reaching to the shelf and pulled out as many books as his big hands were allowing him. He ended up revealing spray-painted on the back of the shelf and being actually the same two symbols that were sprayed across Sir William Shad's office.

"So, now what?" Lex asked, noticing the look of excitement Sherlock had.

She knew he enjoyed this challenge, a way to test himself and he had just found another piece of a very confusing and complicated puzzle. However, their trail had run cold and she suspected what should happen next but because it was Sherlock of all people; she felt obliged to ask for confirmation.

* * *

As it was expected, the shelf was taken a picture and printed before being added to the photos stuck around the mirror in the boys' living room. The trio then stood in front of the fireplace and was looking at the pictures.

"So, the killer goes to the bank, leaves a threatening cypher for Van Coon; Van Coon panics, returns to his apartment, locks himself in" Sherlock started the story, slowly adding all the pieces of information into a proper timeline. "Hours later, he dies"

"The killer finds Lukis at the library; he writes the cypher on the shelf where he knows it'll be seen; Lukis goes home" John added, standing at his left.

"Late that night, he dies too" Lex concluded, being by the man's right.

"Why did they die, Sherlock?" John asked softly.

Sherlock ran his fingers over the line painted across Sir William's face. "Only the cypher can tell us"

He thoughtfully tapped his finger against the photo as his expression sharpened; something that didn't go unnoticed by Lex.

"I know that face. You have an idea, what is it?"

"Soon" was his reply and rushed to the laptop for research.

The duo exchanged looks but stayed quiet, having trust in Sherlock. "I am going to make some tea"


	14. Chapter 14

Sherlock spared them the details for an amount of time and was now leading them across the centre of the Trafalgar square; their destination being the National Gallery.

"The world's run on codes and cyphers" he started, finally giving some insight in his thoughts. "From the million-pound security system at the bank, to the PIN machine you took exception to, cryptography inhabits our every waking moment"

John looked confused even though he got the point, partially. "Yes, okay, but ..."

"... but it's all computer-generated: electronic codes, electronic ciphering methods" Lex continued.

"Exactly. This is different. It's an ancient device. Modern code-breaking methods won't unravel it"

"Where are we headed?" John asked.

"I need to ask for some advice"

The duo froze on their tracks. Lex blinked and looked at Sherlock with '_are you serious'_ face while John felt like a child that was told Santa Claus was not real.

"What?! Sorry?!"

"You? Advice from someone else?"

Sherlock threw them a black look which caused John to smile in disbelief and Lex to grin.

"You heard me perfectly. I'm not saying it again"

"You need advice?" Lex repeated, making sure she did hear and understood completely.

"On painting, yes. I need to talk to an expert"

With those words, he led them towards the entrance to the National Gallery which surprised them, not having Sherlock capable of having any contact inside the grand building.

To their surprise and partially not, he led the, to the rear of the building. Lex quickly noticed a young man who had spray-stencilled onto a solid grey metal door the image of a policeman holding a rifle in his hands. The image had a pig's snout in place of a human nose.

A large canvas bag was at the man's feet and he was holding spray cans in both hands. With one of the cans, he had sprayed his tag, "_RAZ_", below the image and he was now adding the finishing touches to his 'artwork.' He continued spraying, unperturbed, as our heroes approached.

"Part of a new exhibition," the man said without turning his attention from his work.

"Interesting" Sherlock said, having no interest at all.

Lex elbowed him slightly for his behaviour and he glanced at her for a second while she observed the artwork.

"I call it Urban Bloodlust Frenzy"

"Catchy and fitting" she replied with a smile, something which made him smile faintly too.

"I've got two minutes before a Community Support Officer comes round that corner" he turned his attention to Sherlock. "Can we do this while I'm workin'?"

Sherlock had taken his phone from his coat pocket and was now holding it out towards Raz, who turned around and tossed one of the spray cans at John. John instinctively caught it and looked at Sherlock, Lex and Raz in bewilderment.

Raz took Sherlock's phone and scrolled through the photographs of the yellow cyphers from Sir William's office and the library.

"Know the author?" Lex asked.

"Recognize the paint. It's like Michigan; hardcore propellant. I'd say zinc"

Sherlock gave a nod. "What about the symbols: d'you recognise them?"

Raz squinted at the pictures. "Not even sure it's a proper language"

"Two men have been murdered, Raz. Deciphering this is the key to finding out who killed them"

"What, and this is all you've got to go on? It's hardly much, now, is it?"

"Are you gonna help us or not?"

"I'll ask around"

"Somebody must know something about it"

"Oi!" a voice reached their ears and they all turned around, only to see two Community Support Officers hurrying towards them.

"Scatter" Lex hissed as she and Sherlock, who had grabbed his phone back, ran off in the opposite direction. Raz dropped his spray can, kicked his bag towards John and also scarpers before running off as well.

John, the blithering idiot, meekly turned towards the officers.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? This gallery is a listed public building" one of them said.

"No, no, wait, wait. It's not me who painted that" He held up the spray can. "I was just holding this for ..."

He turned and seemed to realize for the first time that he had been abandoned. He sighed quietly. The officer kicked open the bag to reveal more spray cans inside, then looked at John pointedly.

"Bit of an enthusiast, are we?

John looked blankly at him and then stared at the graffiti on the door, apparently wondering how he's going to explain his way out of this.

* * *

A few hours later and Sherlock was standing at the fireplace again. The mirror was now almost completely covered because he had added several sheets of paper with various cyphers and pictograms on them. He had his head lowered and was consulting a book.

Lex sat on the couch with his laptop on her lap and was busy reading and searching, trying to help the research. John had entered home a few mins ago, but he had refused to speak to either of them.

She did hear him though marching angrily as well as slamming the kitchen door on his way to them. She felt guilty for abandoning him along with the others but getting caught was not something she could allow.

She knew that the kid would try to frame someone, and Sherlock wouldn't stand either. It was why she had told everyone to scatter, hoping that John had listened to her and had followed suit.

However, the man didn't and paid the price. She knew that nothing big would happen, but the guilt was there. She considered the man her friend and didn't deserve to let him pay for the way Sherlock worked.

"You've been a while" Sherlock finally said since they both sensed him into the room.

John walked a few more paces into the room, his shoulders rigid and his fists clenched. He stopped, blinking as he fought to hold onto his anger, then turned to Sherlock. "Yeah, well, you know how it is. Custody sergeants don't really like to be hurried, do they?" Lex looked up from the laptop and followed him as he had started pacing, an angry half-smile half-grimace on his face "Just formalities: fingerprints, charge sheet; and I've gotta be in Magistrates Court on Tuesday"

Sherlock, absently and as per usual having clearly not heard a word. "What?"

"Me, Sherlock, in court on Tuesday" he replied angrily and subconsciously put a rough London accent "They're givin' me an ASBO!"

Lex made a face and her eyes travelled on her phone which was by her side. She could perhaps help with that and ease the guilt, but she had to wait.

Sherlock, on the other hand, kept not paying attention. "Good. Fine"

"You wanna tell your little pal he's welcomed to go and own up any time"

Sherlock slammed the book shut. "This symbol: I still can't place it" Turned to Lex who shook her head left and right, indicating that she also found nothing useful. Then, he noticed John taking off his jacket which he hadn't done before due to his raised anger. "No, I need you to go to the police station …"

Lex quickly shat the computer shut, grabbed her phone and jogged to the two men as Sherlock started to push John towards the door.

"Oi, oi, oi!" the man exclaimed, not understanding anything.

"... ask about the journalist"

"Oh, Jesus!"

Sherlock grabbed his own coat from the back of the door and tossed Lex her jacket. "His personal effects will have been impounded. Get hold of his diary or something that will tell us his movements"

They all went downstairs and stopped outside of the small building they resided in.

"What about Lex and You?" John asked.

"I am coming with you," Lex said but was quickly corrected by the tall sociopath.

"No, she is coming with me and we are gonna go and see Van Coon's P.A. If we retrace their steps, somewhere they'll coincide"

She was about to argue but the man had already started to walk away. She left out a sigh and shook her head before pushing a stray strand that had escaped her ponytail. She then looked at John. "Good luck," she said with a smile and a friendly shoulder squeeze before rushing to catch up with Sherlock who had walked off down the street. Once she was by his side, she matched his big steps. "Why didn't you want me to go with John?"

"Getting the diary won't be a problem. A fairly easy task and with the Inspector there, it is obvious that he favours John amongst the three of us"

Lex put a fake hurt expression. "And here I thought you wanted me because I am a good company and I might help you find something"

He scoffed but the corner of his lips lifted up. "That is a valid and logical reason which might or might not prove correct in this situation"

She left out a sigh but dropped the façade, knowing very well that she would end up in a dead-end. She knew or at least suspected the reason why Sherlock wanted her as a company, and she wouldn't risk changing that.

She liked Sherlock's as well and enjoyed watching him work. Plus, after that move of his leaving with the murderous cabbie and almost dying; she wanted to keep a closer look at the mysterious and handsome man by her side.

It was certain that he knew how to take care of himself, but she felt this need to try and prevent him from actually ending up in a situation as drastic as he enjoys. Yet again, she didn't seem to be doing a very good job so far.


	15. Chapter 15

_SHAD SANDERSON BANK_

Sherlock led Lex back into the bank, wanting to check the latest travels of their new dead person. The best way to get information was first to find out what he did last. There was definitely a connection, they simply had to find it.

They both stood at each side of the rich man's assistant, Amanda, who was looking at an online calendar.

"Flew back from Dalian, Friday. Looks like he had back-to-back meetings with the sales team." she explained after a moment of silence.

"Can you print us up a copy?" Sherlock asked.

"Sure"

Lex was next. "What about the day he died? Can you tell us where he was?"

The assistant looked at the screen. "Sorry. Bit of a gap" The calendar showed no entries for Monday the 22nd, causing the genius man to look away, frustrated. Lex made a face, realizing that the man might have actually left his dirty undies in the suitcase for days but quickly focused on the situation, once Amanda started to speak again. "I have all his receipts."

* * *

After a small wait, Amanda had spread out Van Coon's receipts on her desk. Our heroes were by her side, once again, looking over them as well.

"What kind of a boss was he, Amanda? Appreciative?" he asked.

"Um, no. That's not a word I'd use. The only things Eddie appreciated had a big price tag."

Sherlock knelt on the floor to give himself easier access to the receipts. While he was taking off his gloves, he saw a pump-action bottle of luxury hand lotion at the back of the desk.

"Like that hand cream. He bought that for you, didn't he?"

Fiddling nervously with a pin in her hair, Amanda looked at him in surprise. Lex lifted an eyebrow and looked at her before focusing on inspecting each receipt.

"Sherlock," she said once she picked one and looked at it twice, to confirm her suspicions.

She handed it to him, letting him see that it was a receipt from a licensed taxi. Dated 22 March 2010 and timed at 10:35, the receipt was for £18.50. Sherlock looks at it and then hands it to Amanda.

"Look at this one. Got a taxi from home on the day he died. Eighteen pounds fifty."

The assistant frowned her eyebrows. "That would get him to the office."

"Not rush hour; check the time. Mid-morning. Eighteen would get him as far as ..."

"The West End. I remember him saying"

Sherlock this time was the one to find a new clue, most specifically a London Underground ticket with the same date on it and issued at "Picadilly". He handed that up to Amanda.

"Underground. Printed at one in Piccadilly."

"So he got a Tube back to the office. Why would he get a taxi into town and then the Tube back?"

Lex tapped her finger against her chin, thinking. "Because he was delivering something heavy. Didn't want to lug a package up the escalator" she looked at her companion who gave a nod.

"Delivering?" Amanda repeated, not exactly understanding what they were talking about.

"To somewhere near Piccadilly Station. Dropped the package, delivered it and then ..." Sherlock stopped for a moment, his eyes landing on another receipt. Standing up, he grabbed it and saw it was from the Piazza Espresso Bar Italiano... stopped on his way. He got puckish."

* * *

The duo wasted no time taking a Taxi and arriving where the espresso bar was. Sherlock was walking a little bit forward, Lex on purpose slowing down her pace. He had started mumbling to himself, trying to put the pieces together.

"So you bought your lunch from here en route to the station, but where were you headed from? Where did the taxi drop you ...?" he was not paying attention to where he was going, too deep into his mind.

Lex noticed someone coming, quickly recognizing him despite his face being buried behind a leather journal.

"Uhm Sherlock…" she started, but the man ignored her. A second later and the two flatmates bumped on to each other. Shocked, they took a step back and blinked, realizing what had just happened. Chuckling slightly, the woman approached them. "Well, a reunion at last."

"Right" John commented, not so happy about it. "What are you guys doing here?"

Before Lex could say anything, Sherlock beat her to it.

"Eddie Van Coon brought a package here the day he died – whatever was hidden inside that case. I've managed to piece together a picture using scraps of information ..." he spoke fast, unaware that John was trying to stop him.

"Sherlock ..."

" ... credit card bills, receipts. He flew back from China; then, he came here."

"Sherlock ..."

"Somewhere in this street; somewhere near. I don't know where, but ..."

Getting tired, Lex pinched his side and caused him to yelp in surprise and take a step to the side by a reflex. He looked at her shocked, slightly betrayed and confused all at the same time at her sudden action.

"Just listen to John for a moment, will ya?" she said, one hand at her waist like a very annoyed mother that was kept being interrupted by her child.

John gave her a nod, thanking her for interfering because he was also getting tired. Sherlock was a good friend, but everyone had their limit and someone, sometimes should take a step forward and stop him.

Thankfully, Lex seemed to be that individual. She somehow always knew how to stop him or how he thought while also having the biggest patience with him. It was impressive but also very odd.

John pushed any thoughts to the side and left out a sigh, realizing Sherlock was staring at him. He pointed at a shot across from them, on the other side of the busy street. "The shop over there."

The clever man looked at the shop, frowned for a millisecond and then focused on his partner. "How can you tell?"

John lifted what he was holding, which ironically Sherlock himself sent him all the way to the Police Department to pick up. "Lukis' diary. He was here too. He wrote down the address." He showed the entry to the duo.

"Oh."

"This is convenient." Lex muttered as the trio decided to visit the shop.

* * *

Entering the area of China Town, they quickly headed for the shop that Luki had visited just before he died. The shop was made for tourists, consisting largely of decorative cats sitting up on their hind legs with one front paw raised. The paws on some of the cats were waving back and forth.

Lex entered first, giving a nod with her head while her eyes glanced around. She quickly noticed the cats, remembering the story behind them of how they brought good luck. Due to a Chinese myth of aa cat saving a shoulder from lightning.

She didn't believe it was true, finding it too supernatural, but it was an interesting piece of culture. An interesting piece which was now used as merchandise to trick tourists into wasting their money.

John entered after her, last followed by Sherlock. The short man was the only one to turn to the female shop keeper and politely greet her.

"Hello."

While they were busy looking around, the shop keeper lifted one of the cats from the desk. "You want a lucky cat."

"No, thanks. No."

Sherlock looked round at him and smirked, Lex holding back a faint chuckle by covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Ten pounds. Ten pounds!"

"No" he smiled awkwardly.

"I think your wife, she will like!" she said, pointing at Lex who stopped finding the situation funny.

Only Sherlock found the situation purely amusing, while John's cheeks got a very faint pink hue. "She is not my wife. Also, no, thank you."

He decided to do what his friend was doing and look at the different objects, hoping the shop keeper would leave him alone. He walked over to one of the tables which had small ceramic painted handle-less cups on it.

Sherlock was examining a rack displaying clay statues while Lex was busy looking at some Chinese vases that were decorated by hand made drawings in stunning details

John picked up one of the cups and turned it over to look at the price tag. His hand begun to tremble when he saw the Chinese symbol stuck on the underside. It's the same sort-of upside down eight with a line above it which was painted beside Sir William's portrait and on the library shelf.

"Sherlock. Lex"

The woman lifted her back and turned her head, seeing John's face, and he lifted the cup. She quickly made her way towards him. Sherlock, who had picked up one of the statues, put it back on the shelf and came over to him. Now Lex was by his left and Sherlock by his right.

"Is that…" the woman exclaimed, eyebrows frowning.

"Yes, I see it." Sherlock added.

John looked at them. "Exactly the same as the cypher."

Clearing his throat awkwardly, he put the cup back. Sherlock lifted his head as it all started to make sense to him.

* * *

Shortly afterwards the new clue, they left the ship without any word to the female shop keeper. They took down the street, their minds working with all the information as they tried to put things together.

"It's an ancient number system! Hangzhou" Sherlock suddenly said as the symbols from that system were flashing in his mind's eye as he walked. "These days, only street traders use it."

"Then, what we found on the wall on the wall at the bank and the library. They were numbers" Lex concluded, and he gave a nod, leading them over to a greengrocer.

He had some of its wares on display outside the shop. The various boxes had handwritten signs on them giving the vegetables' names in both Chinese and English, and underneath was the cost of that particular item in both Hangzhou and English.

Sherlock started to pick up the various signs, checking the symbols. "Numbers are written in an ancient Chinese dialect"

John was the first to stop the familiar sign with the upside-down eight and slash above it and its English equivalent beneath. "It's fifteen! What we thought was the artist's tag – it's a number fifteen."

"And the blindfold – the horizontal line? That was a number as well" Lex concluded and received a hum of approval by Sherlock.

The man showed them a price tag with the almost-horizontal line at the top, and "£1" written underneath. "The Chinese number one" he grinned in triumph

"We've found it!" John exclaimed, feeling happiness bubbling inside with a sense of pride.

Sherlock turned and walked away. Lex quickly followed him, feeling a grin on her face. She had no doubts about finding the clues and solving the mystery. The adrenaline of finding new stuff, being one step closer in solving the puzzle.

This is what she enjoyed, and she couldn't wait to move on with their investigation, see what else they could decipher.

As they walked, only John stopped and noticed a familiar unknown woman. First spotted taking a photograph outside 221. Now, she was standing nearby. Still wearing her dark sunglasses, she again had her camera raised and pointed towards him as she took a picture. Someone walked across her, obscuring his view of her for a moment, and by the time the person has passed, she had vanished.

"John, are you coming?" Lex called him, seeing him frowning and looking at nothing in particular.

In silence, he followed after his friends while his mind kept the image of the mysterious woman.

* * *

Shortly afterwards, they were staking out the tourist shop, which they now see was The Lucky Cat, the shop outside which Andy Galbraith was standing when he tried Soo Lin's doorbell.

Sitting at a table in the window of the restaurant opposite the shop, Sherlock was writing the two Hangzhou numbers and their English equivalents onto a paper napkin. John sat opposite him, also writing notes.

Lex stood by Sherlock's side, inside the booth. Her eyes were travelling to the shop across, watching and waiting for any movement that would be their next lead.

"Two men travel back from China. Both head straight for the Lucky Cat emporium. What did they see?" John asked.

"It's not what they saw; it's what they both brought back in those suitcases" Sherlock corrected him.

"And you don't mean duty-free." A waitress brought over a plate of food and put it down in front of John. "Thank you."

"Think about what Sebastian told us; about Van Coon – about how he stayed afloat in the market."

"Lost five million ..."

"... made it back in a week." Lex finished for John, eyes glancing at the duo. She kept her attention on them, listening to their every word even though her eyes were not on them all the time.

"That's how he made such easy money" Sherlock stated.

John hummed slightly. "He was a smuggler. Mmm" He took a mouthful of food.

"A guy like him – it would have been perfect….Businessman ...making frequent trips to Asia. And Lukis was the same ...a journalist writing about China. Both of them smuggled stuff out, and the Lucky Cat was their drop-off" Sherlock put together, all the time receiving hums and nods from John, who was busy eating his food.

Lex had now turned her attention on the genius young man, listening carefully.

"But why did they die? I mean, it doesn't make sense. If they both turn up at the shop and deliver the goods, why would someone threaten them and kill them after the event, after they'd finished the job?"

Lex gave a nod in agreement, thinking the same thing. They were missing something, but she couldn't figure it what exactly. She looked at Sherlock who had sat back thoughtfully for a few seconds, then smiled as he realized the answer.

"What if one of them was light-fingered?"

"How d'you mean?"

Lex leaned slightly against the table, understanding where Sherlock was leading it. "He means that he must have stolen something; something from the hoard."

"And the killer doesn't know which of them took it, so he threatens them both. Right" John concluded.

Sherlock looked out of the window towards the shop, then raised his eyes to the windows above it. Looking down to the ground floor level again, his gaze sharpened. "Remind me ..." He focused on a Yellow Pages phone directory sealed in a plastic wrapper which had been left outside the door to the flat beside the Lucky Cat. "... when was the last time that it rained?"

Lex frowned, looking out of the window as well curious as to what Sherlock was talking about. Feeling the sudden chill, she looked forward only to see that he had already stood up and was exiting the shop.

Leaving out a sigh, she looked at John, who had barely managed to touch his food and enjoy it. "You should know, not to eat when he is like that," she said and stood up before quickly rush to follow him.


End file.
